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1st ever build!!! need some advise

F

FrostFox

n00b
Joined
Jun 2, 2004
Messages
10
hi guys


I recently decided on a new pc and after talking to ppl on other forums have come up with the following spec

motherboard :- MSI k8n nforce 3 250 £93.94
Ram :- 1GB Geil pc3500 golden dragon Dual channel kit £205.63
CPU :- AMD Athlon 64 3400 retail+heatsink £299.63
PSU :- Antec Trueblue 480w £ 80.49
Graphics card :- ATI radeon x800 xt £352.44
Sound Card :- Creative sound blaster Audigy 2 zs 7.1 THX £ 83.90
DVD rw :- NEc nd2500a 8x OEM(cd-002-NE) £ 57.34
HD :- 1x wd raptor 36.7gb SATA £79.31
1x wd caviar 200gb special ed SATA £102.17
Case :-Antec p160 super midi tower £ 93.94


but what i want to know is, could building this machine be done by myself(a complete novice) following the paperwork etc. :confused:
im uk based
 
I think it can, otherwise I wouldn't be planning to do it either. I'm going build my first comp after my exams finish and my spec is not too dissimilair to yours, although I'm having an athlon 64 3000+ and radeon 9800 Pro (trying to be cheap :D) What I was wondering is where in the uk sells that motherboard?. I've been looking around and I can't seem to find it :(
 
it'll be fairly hard to screw up putting together the parts...looks like an awesome system, wish i had that much to blow on a new computer :D
as far as actually assembling it, i can't think of any real good reviews right now, but it is pretty hard to install something wrong nowadays, just read the manual or check the website if you're unsure. Just make sure to be careful when mounting the heatsink/fan. but make sure to get rid of the thermal tape and use some good ol Arctic Silver 5 (or Ceramique) arctic silver's website...have a great walkthrough/tutorial on how to install the heatsink/fan, and also a big page with all the vendors that sell their products (including international resellers)
other than that, looks like it'l be a good computer, nice first build...good luck!
 
grantunderland said:
Just make sure to be careful when mounting the heatsink/fan. but make sure to get rid of the thermal tape and use some good ol Arctic Silver 5 (or Ceramique) arctic silver's website...have a great walkthrough/tutorial on how to install the heatsink/fan, and also a big page with all the vendors that sell their products (including international resellers)
Click to expand...



this ive never heard off? i take it the cpu will come with thermal tape on it? this helps to take heat away from the cpu? but some ppl replace it with a thin layer of arctic silver compound? is this better at taking heat away?

am i just as well leaving the cpu alone until im comfortable with the new build?
 
Thanks for the link mate :)
My experience is only taking apart my trusty old pentium 2 pc, installing an extra fan in mine, chippinh my xbox and repairing my ps2, so not much experience here. Doesn't look too hard :D My spec is as follows (with the parts mainly off ebuyer and dabs):

Case
Coolermaster Wave Master - Black (No PSU) (CA-047-CM) - £130
Antec PSU True Blue 480w Blue Led Fan - £86

Processor
Athlon 64 3000+ S754 1MB Box - £153

Motherboard
MSI K8N nForce3 250 (Socket 754) - £93 (off overclockers.co.uk)

Memory
Corsair (VS1GBKIT400C3) 1024MB (2 x 512MB Matched Pair), DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, Unbuffered, CL3, Lifetime Warranty - £133

Graphics Card
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 PRO 128 MB DDR 8x AGP DVi & TV-Out - £157
Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer REV3 For The 9500/9600/9700/9800 all Pro's And ATI Wonder versions - £10

Sound Card
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Soundcard - 24bit 64 Voice Pci Sb1394 6 Spk Support - Win98 Xp - Bulk - £54

Drives
Western Digital WD1200JD 120gb Serial ATA150 7200rpm 8mb Cache- OEM - £70
Pioneer 8x Dvd Dual R/rw Ide Burner - Oem Black - £70
Sony 16x40 IDE BLACK DVD-ROM Drive - OEM - £20
Sony 1.44MB Internal 3.5" Black - £9

Speakers
Inspire 6.1 6700 - 4 X 8w Rms Satelites 1 X Centre 20w Rms 22w Rms Subwoofer Plus Wired Remote - OEM - £52

Monitor
Dabsvalue 17" TFT Slim 1280x1024 - £249

TOTAL COST: £1129
TOTAL COST W/OUT MONITOR & SOUND: £774

but some things are cheaper off overclockers.co.uk so I'll have to redo it now
:rolleyes:
 
don't be suprised if it doesn't boot up right after you put it together, i've built many, and you gotta know how to trouble shoot the hard ware
 
FrostFox said:
am i just as well leaving the cpu alone until im comfortable with the new build?
Click to expand...
Yes. The thermal tape that comes with the CPU will do just fine if you plan to run at stock speeds. The difference would be a few degrees (C), so it's nothing drastic.

As far as building the system with no experience goes, there's not much that can go wrong. It's pretty straightforward. Troubleshooting possible problems after the actual build is finished is where experience helps. But if you RTFM (namely beep codes) and if you've read through these forums for a while reading other people's problems, you should be fine. If not, you can always just come back here and tell us what's wrong.
 
thx guys :) i havent no experience but u guys are giving me the confidence to build it :D

i think i will go for it, ive already ordered a pc toolkit lol

just have to get the hardware together, any u guys got any tips on a build

i know 1st thing is dont apply power to mobo and cpu unless u have heatsink connected and 2 have a static free workspace, any other tips u guys got?

do u guys just put the whole rig together then power up, or do u guys say add a few bits of hardware power up check config is right then add more hardware then check config etc?
 
My absolute top suggestion, a suggestion so important that it should be a requirement, is to have a second PC on hand that is connected to the Internet. Being able to come back here and ask for help will do wonders for your stress level.
 
lol gr8 minds think alike, i was thinking the same thing m8, im gonna have my old sys set up just using keyboard,mouse and monitor between the 2 setups till the new one is 100%
 
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