Just Finished new Build Need Advice!

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OneEyeWilly

n00b
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
46
Hi-

My first Build and it F-NG posted.Excuse the french fellow pc dudes,but what a great feeling:)It took 5 hours,but I had some issues,and I still have some questions.The first issue I had was installing the Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus.Installation was easy,but applying Artic Siver was somewhat a challenge.You have to pack the gaps on the HS,and get it flush without air pockets.The chip was easy.I applied a thin layer on the entire chip,so you could see the writing on the chip.Finally,I used the line method on the heatsink,and bolted her down.After I got it to post.I messed around in the bios for 15 minutes.My core idle temp was 32 degrees.I only had it on 15 minutres ,so I'm not sure that was long enough.I used an Antec 900 for this build.I also knew before hand that wire management was going to be an issue.I pre-drilled some holes.I did not have an extender for the 8 pin power plug.Having a bottem mounted PSU I drilled a hole a little beyond the psu to run the 8 pin power plug.I had another hole drilled in the upper corner.I had to go underneath the mobo,after I routed behind on the top,But only had 3 inches after coming back in the case ,under the mobo,and get it connected.What a pain in the ass.It took me 45 minutes to connect this wire.The sleeving on the PSU is not that forgiving.I took out the rear fan to get my paws in there,and bend it without trying to crack the board.I will defintely get an extender and redo some cable management.Everything else went smooth.

Here are the parts I have in the case.I have some questions,and will number them in order of concern.


Antec 900

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGMBOX - Retail

GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 .

EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Retail
AMD Gift - Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Coupon - Retail

LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS424-98 LightScribe Support - Retail

Rosewill RC-401-EX 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express Gigabit Low Profile Network Card - Retail


(2) Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

(1) Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - Retail

Nippon Labs Black 1.44MB 3.5" External USB 2.0 Floppy Drive Model USB-FLPPY - Retail "LOL"I still cant believe I need a floppy drive,but I need it to load SATA drivers into XP Pro.



1. When I mounted the Motherboard in the case I only had 8 nylon washers.I have one hole without a washer,but the board is properly mounted on all 9 stand-offs.Should I be concerned?

2.I have 3 Sata drives.On the Motherboard they have Sata 0 and Sata 1,and then they have Sata 2-6 on another bank.I connected the 2- 750GB drives to Sata 0,and Sata 1.I connected the 320GB dive to Sata 2.Do those connections sound correct..I also have a burner.How should I set up the boot order in the bios?

3.I still need to figure the bios out.How do I load all the drivers?I am using xp pro so I download the sata drivers for the hard drive.I'm wondering about the sata dvd burner.Should I just go to Gigabyte,and update all the drivers after I install the os.?

4.I have 2 fans hooked up to the HS.One fan is connected to the cpu fan header.The board has 2 sys fan headers,but I hated to run wires across the board.It as 1 (3) pin Power fan header.I connected the other 120 to the power fan header that ok?

I have not started the PC since I did the bench test,at that point the post was done outside the case. I still need to see if all my drives work,and everything works with the parts in the case.I have alot to figure out in the bios.Its all new to me,as a newbie.


I stiil need to figure the bios out.How do I load all the drivers?I am using xp pro so I download the sata drivers for the hard drive.I'm wondering about the sata dvd burner.Should I just go to Gigabyte,and update all the drivers after I install the os.?

Here's some pictures.Still working on cable management!



http://img715.imageshack.us/i/img0044td.jpg/

http://img413.imageshack.us/i/img0043hi.jpg/

http://img535.imageshack.us/i/img0056jq.jpg/

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7826/img0055le.jpg

http://img534.imageshack.us/i/img0048vu.jpg/

http://img534.imageshack.us/i/img0076w.jpg/

http://img441.imageshack.us/i/img0075y.jpg/

http://img413.imageshack.us/i/img0074ge.jpg/
 
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Good stuff! I remember my first PC, same feeling. Enjoy your nice rig.
 
1) not really
2) Sounds correct. Generally, set your DVD burner as the first boot. Then whatever drive is your OS drive will be the second.

Overall decent build but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it due to the poor price to performance ratio.

Have fun with that build!
 
Danny Bui said:
1) not really
2) Sounds correct. Generally, set your DVD burner as the first boot. Then whatever drive is your OS drive will be the second.

Overall decent build but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it due to the poor price to performance ratio.

Have fun with that build!
Click to expand...

The build was 900 dollars.Not bad.Plenty of speed and ram for my purpose.I don't want to spend 2-4 hundred on a video card.I think I get plenty of performance for $134 VC.Max settings are not a priority:p

I went with this video card because I play old and new games,and didn't need driver issues.Next year I'll find a sweet spot down the road,and build a I7 build with an ATI card.
 
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OneEyeWilly said:
The build was 900 dollars.Not bad.Plenty of speed and ram for my purpose.I don't want to spend 2-4 hundred on a video card.I think I get plenty of performance for $134 VC.Max settings are not a priority:p

I went with this video card because I play old and new games,and didn't need driver issues.Next year I'll find a sweet spot down the road,and build a I7 build with an ATI card.
Click to expand...

Well the hard drives and the NIC were the main point of concern for me, not the video card. For example: For not that much more than the WD 320GB Blue, you could have gotten either the faster Samsung F3 500GB or the WD 500GB Blue (if you're lucky enough to get the new single platter version). As for the 750GB drives, I'm not exactly sure what your planned setup storage is but if those drives are primarily for storage, there are plenty of 1TB drives for $80 out there.

Finally the NIC: I have no idea why you bought a second NIC when the onboard Realtek gigabit NIC is just as good if not better than the Rosewill. However if you did have a valid reason to get that dedicated NIC, I would have gone with an Intel made gigabit NIC. Only about $30 and the Intel NICs get huge raves over in the Networking and Security subforum.

Oh missed some of your other questions:
Go to Gigabyte's website, download the drivers, and install them. Don't worry about a sata driver for the DVD burner. You won't need it.
 
I guess I could of bought a faster drive,but I heard good things about the WD black. I should have studied harder when it came to buying HHD's. As far as the NIC card, I figured having a separate card might help keep the board cooler.I download alot,and will be gaming inbetween. I Should have went Intel,but all the last minute things started to add up. Fans,adapters,game pad controllers,thermal paste,purifier....


My next purchase will be a SSD,and all other drives for whatever.The SSD will be sweeter for gaming!
 
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