Building my first PC

[Jameson69]

Hello, I am about to build my first pc this weekend and i was wondering if anyone could pass along a good website with steps on building pc's. Also, what are the hardest things about building a pc? I was thinking putting in the cpu and attaching the heatsink and fan to it but i wasn't sure. Here are the parts that i'm buying:

Motherboard - Asus P4P800 Deluxe

CPU - P4 2.6Ghz /w 800Mhz FSB

Video Card - G4 MX420 ( i know this is a horrible card but i bought it when i didn't know much about computers)

Memory - Kingston 512MB DDR 400

HDD - 60G Maxtor hard drive

Case - Thermaltake Xaser III V2000A (i think it comes with a power supply)

And the rest is just regular things i.e. Cd-rom/rw,floppy drive,onboard sound (i think), already have a monitor.

Thx for your help.

:)

[pave_spectre]

Dont know any sites but heres some free general 'advice'.

Make sure you are well grounded to clear any static. Either use an anti-static wrist strap, or at the very least be sure to touch an unpainted metal surface (preferably earthed and not connected to a live supply) for a reasonable amount of time before handling any components.

I dont know about this in regard to P4s, but building my athlon system i found life was a whole lot easier if i installed the processor and heatsink before putting the motherboard in the case, due to the fact that it sits so close to the PSU that getting and force on the heatsink clip was impossible with the board in the case.(I found this out only after i had installed the board in the case first.

I presume the video card is AGP. Is that video card compatible with the boards slot? If the board has 8x AGP then there is a good chance it will only support 1.5V cards from what Ive seen lately. You may need to check your video card manual/specs to see if its 1.5V compatible.

Before installing any video card install the RAM first as AGP cards once installed often seem to block the clips that hold the RAM in place, on the first couple of slots. Inserting either of these these usually just requires a firm constant pressure to be fully seated, so dont go overboard with the insertion force.

Anything else is more or less just cabling.

[drewbob]

Attaching the heatsink should be a painless task when done correctly. Make sure you have a screwdriver with a blade thin enough to seat well in your clip. Install the CPU an HSF before you put the motherboard in the case (I guess thats a little obvious) and remeber that all you should need is smooth, gentle pressure. Bend the clip out, down, and in.

I have installed quite a few heatsinks on socket 7 and socket A motherboards. I am assuming that socket 478 is done the same.

[Jameson69]

this may sound stupid but does the "V" in 1.5V stand for "version?" I think the card is a 4x card. Does that make a difference if the motherboard is 8x? And is it hard to put a heatsink and fan on the cpu?
I'm familiar with putting ram in because i did it with my current pc, a p3 800mhz. so that won't be a problem.

[Budfred]

If you are using Arctic Silver thermal compound on the heatsink for the CPU be sure to check directions on their website and follow them closely. I use postit notes to frame the contact plate on the CPU to keep it neat and prevent compound getting on the body of the CPU. I do find that to be the most difficult part of the install, mainly because it has to be fairly precise...

Since you have an Asus motherboard you will have a better manual than most, refer to it often.

It is a good idea to try a minimal boot before you hook up all your drives and then hook up one drive at a time and test so that you will know if there is a problem with any of them....

Edit:

The v. is for volt as in 1.5 volt....

The thing about putting RAM in is the video card getting in the way and if it is DDR RAM, it will be a little different than what you are used to. However, RAM is one of the easiest things to install...

[Jameson69]

Ahh i'm lost. I don't know anything about thermal compound...is it required? If not, what else could i use?

[Jameson69]

i checked the specs on the mobo and it said this:

"1 x AGP 8X/4X (0.8V, 1.5V only)"

Does that mean that if i have it set to 8x then it uses .8v and if set at 4x it uses 1.5v??

thx

[drewbob]

In reference to AGP, the V in 1.5V is for volts. Never fear, your mx420 will work fine - 4x agp operates at 1.5 volts.
Also if you purchased a retail cpu that comes with the fan then you shouldn't need to worry about getting any thermal compound as the heatsink comes with a thermal pad thing already on it.

[Budfred]

Arctic Silver is used by people who want to get the temps down a little more since it is supposed to aid in the heat transfer more than pads. However, you can just use the pad it came with....

[drewbob]

I like arctic silver personally but it can void the warranty :eek: so you might want to stick with the stock phase change material that comes on your heatsink, atleast for a while

[Budfred]

Arctic Silver can void the warranty on AMD chips, but I am not sure that is true on Intel. Do you know for sure that is true???

[Jameson69]

well then i'm pretty much set. I talked to a friend and he convinced me that the case i'm getting is too loud so i changed to a different one and i'm now getting 2x256MB PC3500 Dual Channel Kit EL-DDR. Which will be SUPER fast for me :) and i'm going with the 2.4C Ghz instead of the 2.6 and i'll probably OC that baby. :) Thx for the help people :D

[pentachris]

I got here a little late, but here (http://www.duxcw.com/digest/Howto/index.html) you are, anyway.

[drewbob]

Well Budfred I wasn't positive about using AS with regard to the warranty on an Intel processor. I just knew that I read something about it voiding warranties on processors, and thought that James was better safe than sorry if he wanted to keep his warranty. So I went to Intel looking for answers, and I could not find anything stating that they thought Arctic Silver was good, bad, or otherwise.
But James if you want to overclock, you will probably want to use AS3 or some other high quality thermal compound. You might want to also get a high performance Heatsink/fan. And you won't have to worry about using approved thermal compound because I'm quite sure that once you OC your warranty is void anyways.

[Budfred]

drewbob,

Yep, overclocking definitely voids the warranty.... Another good reason not to do it....

AMD objects to using Arctic Silver because the way they make there chips leaves areas open to excess compound flowing onto the chip and shorting it out. Intel chips are not as prone to that, but it is still a good idea to apply it very carefully....

[Jameson69]

i don't know how to put thermal compound onto my heatsink (or wherever it goes). So i don't know if i should do it. If i don't use the thermal compound could the cpu overheat? The case i'm buying has 5 case fans. Could that help cool the cpu if i didn't use thermal compound? i just don't know anything about using that, and it seems a lil difficult to put on, and i don't want to mess anything up. Thx for the help.

[Budfred]

It will burn your CPU out if you don't use some sort of thermal compound, but there are pads you can use that usually come with the heat sink that are very easy to use. With a pad you simply remove the plastic cover over the pad.

However, if you really want to overclock (not a good idea in my opinion), it is a good idea to use something better than a thermal pad and Arctic Silver seems to be the best at this point.

If you do decide to go with Arctic Silver there are very detailed instructions with pictures on their website and people here can give you guidance as well. I had never done it before and it went ok on my first build. I have done 3 builds now and it has gone fine each time...

Edit: The five fans will work really well to blow the burning smell out of the box if you try to go without a thermal compound of some sort, but it won't cool it enough to stop the frying....

[Jameson69]

I went to the Arctic silver website and found the instructions on how to put it on the heatsink and cpu. What i am confused about is steps 5 and 7 (check here) http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
In step 5 they show how to put the compound onto the heatsink but then in step 7 they remove it. Why remove it from the heatsink? It could be that im not thinking straight because it's 5:15 am but i dont see why they would remove the compound from the heatsink after applying it.

[rond36]

Originally posted by drewbob
Attaching the heatsink should be a painless task when done correctly. Make sure you have a screwdriver with a blade thin enough to seat well in your clip. Install the CPU an HSF before you put the motherboard in the case (I guess thats a little obvious) and remeber that all you should need is smooth, gentle pressure. Bend the clip out, down, and in.

I have installed quite a few heat-sinks on socket 7 and socket A motherboards. I am assuming that socket 478 is done the same.

drewbob;

Mounting a socket 478 fan is even more painless then a socket A or 7
A socket 478 does not have tabs on the socket and you don't need a screwdriver to mount the fan.

If it is an OEM fan and some aftermarket fans they are mounted in a 2 piece cage the bottom part of the cage is bolted through the motherboard with a metal stiffener on the back side of the board (this part will be pre-installed on the motherboard). The top part of the cage is mounted on the fan. When installing the fan position the fan part of the cage over the board part and push down until the two parts snap together than use the two leavers on the fan part of the cage to apply pressure to lock the fan in place.

Socket 478 motherboard with botom part of cage installed
http://us.st7.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/directron_1748_8459221

This is an OEM fan.
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/pix/Heatsink.jpg

This is an aftermarket fan with a cage.
Cooler Master IHC-H71
http://us.st7.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/directron_1747_142418428

Some aftermarket fans install by removing the board part of the cage and bolting them through the motherboard with spring tension bolts (the motherboard must be un-installed to mount this type of fan).

This is an aftermarket heat-sink (fan sold separately) that bolts through the motherboard. (Swiftech MCX 4000)
http://cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mcx4000_thumb.jpg



Jameson69;
Applying the compound in step 5 and removing it in step 7 is just to embed micro particles in the metal of the heat-sink if you leave the excess on there you will have too much and it will get into the CPU core and cause problems. When ready to mount the fan you should only have a thin layer of AS3 on the heat spreader of the CPU and micro particles embedded in the metal of the heat-sink.

If buying a boxed processor with fan I suggest using the thermal pad applied to the heat sink until you need to remove the HSF than reinstall using using AS3. Under normal operating conditions the pad works quite well.

[Jameson69]

So i guess i'll just use the fan and heatsink that come with the cpu (i'm buying retail) and then if i decide that i do want to OC then i'll take off the pad and put some Arctic silver on.

[drewbob]

Thanks for setting me straight with the good info rond =)

[Jameson69]

Thanks to everyone who helped me out. I got the parts yesterday and made the computer last night. Had a few problems with the comp not detecting the cdrom and hdd but quickly fixed that. So everyone turned out great. Thanks all.

[Budfred]

CONGRATULATIONS!!:cool: :cool:

That is a major accomplishment... now what are you going to build next :D :p