New Build: Proper Install Order, etc...

[DPO]

Hi, I just ordered a new build core i5 750( thanks to the peeps in Hardware for the help ), with Windows 7 . I havent built a system in about 3.5 years...am just curious and would kinda like an update on the install order of everything once I have it up and going and am installing Windows 7.

I know it used to make a difference what you installed in which order, so I assume it still does. I will be using 1 1TB HDD, ( proper formatting process with 7...any different than XP? Last OS I installed was XP )

So...Windows7, Mobo drivers, ATI drivers ...I am assuming Win 7 already has the latest DX11? Then updates..updates and updates...am I missing anything , or is anything in the wrong order? I have been out of the loop for a few years...I must be missing something..lol

Oh yeah...what should I download and run to test the system once I am up and running beside 3d mark? I see everyone using Memory test software , Any others?

Sorry for any dumb questions here..Just trying to get it right the first time...I like to do my homework before the fact

 

[bigdogchris]

I don't think the order you installed drivers has meant anything since Windows 95/98, and even then, I don't ever remember it making a difference. Thing is, the OS is told to load a specific driver, so what order you install it on the system, before or after other drivers, should not make a difference, because you don't have a choice in what order the OS loads it on boot anyways.

As a good rule of thumb, which may not make any difference at all but I do it anyways, I like to install Windows and fully patch the drivers/OS, then defrag it, then install programs. That way I'm sure the OS files are at the edge of the hard drive (fastest part of the disk). The truth of the matter is with the drivers is that the provided drivers for most items are actually probably some of the better drivers you can get. If you check device manager and everything is installed, which with Vista/7 it should be, or at least most of it, I wouldn't update them, except for GPU of course since so many bugs are fixed. Otherwise, if your not having problems, stick with the default drivers. I've actually bench marked a fresh system with the default drivers, then reinstalled and used the most recent chipset/sata/sound/network drivers and bench marked again and it was slower. I repeated the test 2 times so I know it was not in error.

As for testing, I have no idea what you think you're going to gain by testing 3dmark. Being a synthetic benchmark the results really prove nothing since drivers can be tweaked specifically for that application to provide higher scores.

If you want to do some hardware testing to make sure it's solid, that's good. For memory, just type in 'mem' into the search box and the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will come up. Reboot the machine and go into the options with the tab key and choose to run the extended test. It will take about 2 hours but finds errors the basic does not (it looks like it locks up around 20% and 80% but it's not).

To test/burn in your CPU, download Orthos, Prime95 or Intel burn in. Those test both cpu and memory. Let Orthose or Prime95 run overnight to make sure there are no error (box turns red if there are errors). The Intel test is something you can play with but I don't like it, it's more of a short term, extremely intensive program that I wouldn't use unless I really needed to absolutely max the cpu.

For GPU burn in, download this and open like 10 windows. Turn up the AA for some real gpu stress testing and if you do not get any artifacting after awhile you know your GPU is good.

Finally for your hard drive, whatever brand you buy, visit their site and download the disk tools and run an extended drive test. They usually take 1-3 hours depending on how big your drive is. For a 1TB drive, probably close to 3.

 

[DPO]

Thank you bigdogchris , you pretty much answered all the questions I had

Many thanks