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PC Assembly Fit For A Novice?

Started by Zearoth, March 18, 2004, 23:03 hrs

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Zearoth

Hello again,

As I said before, I was really interested in maybe assembly my first PC to save money and get the parts I want.

I just wanted to know if it would be wise to take the burden and do this by myself with only internet tutorials. No one in my family has any experience with computers, but I have a general sense of things.

I'm only 14 years old, but I know how most of the things work, expect for very, very technical things.

Would you suggest it?

One question: I read on www.pcmech.com that it isn't necessary to have a thermal compound spread on the CPU on newer processors. I found this a little strange, but is it valid? Or is it a must to have it added?

Thank you for your input and suggestions as always!
"Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off now..."

Neon

If this is your first PC, you will not likely save any money, but you will be able to choose your parts, and you will learn a lot.

It is really helpful to have a working computer with internet access as you build, so that you can get drivers, read instructions, and ask questions.

If you are fairly skilled at finding information amd following directions, have some patience, and are not all thumbs, then you can do it. It isn't really very hard.

All modern CPUs generate a considerable amount of heat, and WILL REQUIRE a heatsink WITH THERMAL COMPOUND. There are two common types. The retail boxed processors come with a thermal interface material pre-attached to the bottom of the included heatsink. This stuff has a tacky consistency like bubble gum, and can only be used one time because it melts slightly to fill the air crevices in the heatsink-CPU interface. The other common type is thermal grease, which usually has to be purchased separately. It also can only be used once, but you can buy a small tube that will last for 20 or more applications.
Area 64 project|Asus SK8N|nForce3 Pro 150 chipset|AMD Athlon 64 FX-51|2x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200R|eVGA GeForce 6800GT|WD Caviar SE 1200JD SATA|Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD+R|Plextor PX-116A 16x DVD-ROM|Lian Li PC-60H1S|Antec TruePower 430W ATX|WinXP x64 edition

Wade777

In my opinion: You'll never learn unless you try
Need a custom computer?
Check out my website:
http://www.microhardcomputers.com

Shadow Lynx

I built the PC I'm on, and I'm only 15. It really wasn't that hard. I had very few problems. But to name a few... The spring clips on the heatsink didn't go on completely right the first time so I had to remove them and try again. (Removing them was not easy because of the way they were on) Luckily nothing got damaged or anything. Other then that, it's pretty easy.

novicepcer

Go for it Zearoth! as others have said its the best way to learn...and the immense satisfaction/confidence you will gain knowing its 'all your own work' will inspire you to never buy one again!

I have built 2, and the only area I had difficulties with was loading the operating system on the second one.

For help if things get a little difficult try forums like this one, or a good local pc repairer (they will usually admire that you have had a go and give you help).

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Novice pcer

Neon

Zearoth,
I looked over at PCMechanic to see what you are talking about. On this page, David Risley describes how he attaches heatsinks. I do not recommend his method.

If you plan to build a system with an AMD processor, they have some excellent build and installation guides available as downloadable .pdf files. For example,
for AthlonXP systems you may find these especially useful:
Builders Guide for Desktop/Tower Systems
Socket A AMD Processor and Heatsink Installation Guide - this one has big pictures that show exactly how to insert the CPU into the socket and mount the heatsink.
AMD Athlon? Processor System Cooling Guidelines
Area 64 project|Asus SK8N|nForce3 Pro 150 chipset|AMD Athlon 64 FX-51|2x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200R|eVGA GeForce 6800GT|WD Caviar SE 1200JD SATA|Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD+R|Plextor PX-116A 16x DVD-ROM|Lian Li PC-60H1S|Antec TruePower 430W ATX|WinXP x64 edition

Zearoth

WEll, I'm going to go for it.

Here's ehwat I had in mind. Considering my $1000 CDN budget, I think it's pretty good. :D

Crucial 512MB PC-2700 DDR333 SDRAM $119
Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton) $172
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 $162
Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB $103
Antec Black Performance Series II SOHO $139
Asus 52X CD-ROM $28
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (Provided From My Older Computer)

It comes to a total of $723 CDN

(Prices were taken from www.canadacomputers.com That's where I'm buying all of my parts.)

I was just a little shaky on the MoBo and the processor. I know there are a lot of better processors out there, especially with the Athlon 64-bit, but I'm confident it will suffice.

I'm also not quite sure about the on-board LAN and sound on the MoBo, would anyone know for sure how it performs?

That's pretty much it. All I need is my parent's approval and I'm set to assemble the system and snap a few picture for Poasters! :D

Any suggestions or input would be great.
"Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off now..."

Igloo

well, good luck, i built this computer i am on, and had only 1 problem, the asus a7v266 ( original) has got a fan on the north bridge, wich sucks in the hot air from the heatsink on the cpu, and cause COP to shutdown the board, this crasing everything, but i sorted it, i put in a divider, and it works perfectly now!!!

:D
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10

pat

That?s a nice solid list of hardware. The LAN and sound on those boards should be just fine.
What are you using for an operating system? Suggest you buy it OEM with the hardware to save some money.
You might consider changing the regular CD drive to a dual format CDRW/DVD drive or a CDRW so you can back up important files.

Take your time and read the manuals before assembly.
Have fun.
SeaSonic S12 550W, Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Asus M2N SLI-Deluxe, nvidia 9600 GSO, 2x2 gig Crucial Ballistix, LG DVD/RW, 2x Western Digital Black Edition 640gb,  SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22", Canon PIXMA MP600,  Logitech X-230 speakers, Logitech Comfort Duo keyboard & Mouse, Windows 7 64 Home Premium & Vista 64

Igloo

yes, read before assembly, and during, if you are unsure, post here if you need help!!!

good luck;D
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10

Wade777

If you look around on various websites, you can save yourself a lot of money, but I must say it is quite convenient getting all of your parts from one loaction.

In my opinion, the hardest part of putting the computer together for the first time is mounting the motherboard and mounting the heatsink.  Other than that, everything should go very smoothly as long as you read the instructions before you do anything... be sure to read the WHOLE thing before you press that power button.
Need a custom computer?
Check out my website:
http://www.microhardcomputers.com

Zearoth

Hm... Sounds like a good idea, pat.

I found a LiteOn 16x DVD-Rom drive o the same site for a reasonable price. It fits the colour of my case (black) and it seems to function decently according to most buyers.

I almost forgot about the Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound I needed to get. THat's another $10, and from CanadaComputers as well!
"Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off now..."

Mark H

If you are getting the retail version of the AMD 2800, it comes with a heat sink with heat tape attached. In this case, you don't need the arctic silver unless you plan on stripping off the heat tape.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.

pat

If that?s a regular DVD drive it won?t record disks. You will need either a dual format DVD/CDRW or a CDRW drive to be able to record disks.
That site offers a selection of either kind. The Asus and LG brands are both offered with black face plates.
SeaSonic S12 550W, Athlon 64 X2 6000+, Asus M2N SLI-Deluxe, nvidia 9600 GSO, 2x2 gig Crucial Ballistix, LG DVD/RW, 2x Western Digital Black Edition 640gb,  SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22", Canon PIXMA MP600,  Logitech X-230 speakers, Logitech Comfort Duo keyboard & Mouse, Windows 7 64 Home Premium & Vista 64

Zearoth

#14
I wasn't aware that AMD preapplied the compound, or heat tape (which I'm assuming functions in the same manner). In that case, I'm sure the ones already added will suffice, and make work easier for me.

I'm aware of that, and not really intending to burn CDs. My brother has another system capable of copying and recording disks, so I can simpy transfer the files via router to his computer for copying. Thanks for your concern anyways.

Thanks for the input everyone!

Edit: Would it be wise to use rounded IDE cables to save space and increase airflow rather than to use the tradition styled ones provided by Asus, or is there any distinct difference in them?
"Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off now..."

Neon

Quote from: Zearoth on March 20, 2004, 16:12 hrs
I wasn't aware that AMD preapplied the compound, or heat tape (which I'm assuming functions in the same manner).
Quote from: Neon on March 19, 2004, 00:14 hrsThe retail boxed processors come with a thermal interface material pre-attached to the bottom of the included heatsink. This stuff has a tacky consistency like bubble gum, and can only be used one time because it melts slightly to fill the air crevices in the heatsink-CPU interface.
Make sure that you read all directions twice carefully.

As for the rounded cables, they aren't strictly necessary, but they will help improve the airflow - as would Serial ATA, which is becoming more common in hard drives. If you decide to get rounded cables, the maximum recommended length is 18in. - with longer cables, the risk of data corruption increases.
Area 64 project|Asus SK8N|nForce3 Pro 150 chipset|AMD Athlon 64 FX-51|2x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200R|eVGA GeForce 6800GT|WD Caviar SE 1200JD SATA|Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD+R|Plextor PX-116A 16x DVD-ROM|Lian Li PC-60H1S|Antec TruePower 430W ATX|WinXP x64 edition

Hoot

For a first build. I would strongly recommend getting all of your parts from one online shop, and possibly some local. One of teh worst things to deal with is possibly having parts that are DOA and you have to deal with different vendors with different RMA policies. I also saw that someone recommended OEM equipment. I think that's an excellent idea for HDD's (Hard Drives) and optical drives. If you already have a CD burning app just get OEM Lite on or LG drives. They work well and give no problems. For HDD's OEM makes alot of sense as you can just download from the manufacturer the apps needed for low level and zero fill. Only time I use retail is when the end user specifies it - but I know every brand and I know what works well and what doesn't for the most part. I would get a retail motherboard. Retail CPU. OEM optical drives. OEM HDD's. Unless you get an all in one DVD/DVDRW then you might want to get retail. Other than that sounds like you have a nice list and have fun building-

Zearoth

Unfortunately, everything didn't turn out as nearly as I'd hoped to be...

My entire notion of a new computer will be scratched due to the inevitable rejection of my parents, who really stand strong against computers, technology-they-don't understand-in-the-slightest, and what-not.

But after reviewing what I already had, I chose to use up everything single decent piece of hardware and managed to piece together a new system slightly better than my old P3 800.

My brother's "old" Celeron 600MHZ did the trick, with a nice TUV4x Asus MoBo to fit it with, stock CPU fan, and a much, much better system case. I basically, took all of my drives and replaced them into my brother's CPU and MoBo, which seemed to work out just right.

I guess it was just a way to gain a tiny bit more power and gain considerable experience with handling the computer from the bare pieces, but, to my luck, I didn't stumble across any problems, what-so-ever, except for the occasional missing screw...

As of now, I'm planning to overclock the CPU to 1.2GHZ and maybe gain some substantial performance, so I'll need to go get some performance fans, and get this little innovative piece of cooling technology; Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card. Nice piece of equipment to cool my 9600 Radeon Pro.

Sorry to give your hopes up on pictures of the new computer I was really looking forward to, but I'll see to it that some pictures are taken of this computer, given that you'd want to see an outdated Celeron.

-Zearoth
"Hard work pays off in the future... Laziness pays off now..."

the sheeep

fan cards do dip squat...

just get two psu fans or something along that line and use twist ties to stick em together... cheaper and does the same thing...
www.2-a-d.com
...if only parents trusted kids with technology...

Chandler

I wouldn't overclock a 600MHz Celeron to 1.2GHz.  Intel produced the 1.2-1.4GHz Celerons on a different lower-powered core (Tualatin), the older ones just aren't capable of that sort of speed.

Igloo

well... i did it at school, i didnt risk my gear ;D but they run stable, if 10oC hotter, and they are the same celerons as his, not the newer, lower powered ones ;D
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10

the sheeep

lmao at school one day in spanish "tutoring" we got bored so me and my friend overclocked this computer by an undisclosed amount and it hasn't really worked yet... he did also dump snow in it...
www.2-a-d.com
...if only parents trusted kids with technology...

Wade777

haha -- sounds like fun.
Too bad all of the computers at my school have everything disabled + deepfreeze.  It makes it virtually impossible to change any settings or install any programs. Heck, you cant even put a background wallpaper.

Well.. since I'm a genius and all (plz note sarcasm) I installed Call of Duty and AIM onto what you call "thawspace" which is a partition used to store documents that most people dont know about.  When you reboot it doesnt get deleted! Score..
Need a custom computer?
Check out my website:
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Igloo

same, i just linked it to the computer i use most, and as i am a IT technician, we can do what we want ;D the best one had to be, i orded a bottle of liquid nitrogen, and overclocked a P4 to 8ghz, CPU temp was only -1oC ;D  i took it to 12ghz, and its there now, sitting, waiting for the next bottle of nitrogen, for more fun, its soo cool, it runs with 1gb ram too it flys!!!!!
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10

Mark H

Quote from: Igloo on March 25, 2004, 09:52 hrs
same, i just linked it to the computer i use most, and as i am a IT technician, we can do what we want ;D the best one had to be, i orded a bottle of liquid nitrogen, and overclocked a P4 to 8ghz, CPU temp was only -1oC ;D  i took it to 12ghz, and its there now, sitting, waiting for the next bottle of nitrogen, for more fun, its soo cool, it runs with 1gb ram too it flys!!!!!

I seriously doubt your statement. Consumer motherboards can't deliver enough power to overclock a PC to 8 Ghz, much less 12 Ghz. Furthermore, liquid nitrogen should keep the CPU much colder than -1 ?C.

Check out this article to see what I am talking about.

Mark H
Enjoy the nature that is around you rather than destroying it.

Igloo

mark, i have a program, wich allows me to edit the bios, and put in all sorts of wonderful numbers, and it is not a consumer board, it an ex beta board, which Eclipse used to check out some chipsets

the bios allows me to make changes, and i ran it @ 12 for a few secs, but it went down.... havent played with it for a month or so, maybe tomoz ill have another play, and poast some pics
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10

Neon

Which motherboard?
Which program do you use to edit the BIOS?
What heat sink are you using?
I would be interested to see the pictures.
Area 64 project|Asus SK8N|nForce3 Pro 150 chipset|AMD Athlon 64 FX-51|2x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200R|eVGA GeForce 6800GT|WD Caviar SE 1200JD SATA|Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD+R|Plextor PX-116A 16x DVD-ROM|Lian Li PC-60H1S|Antec TruePower 430W ATX|WinXP x64 edition

Wade777

Need a custom computer?
Check out my website:
http://www.microhardcomputers.com

Chandler

There are a couple of BIOS editing tools, for both Award and AMI.  You have to be really specific with the versions though, and I don't think that they're intended for end-user usage.  They do provide a neat way of unlocking extra features of your motherboard though.  I have patched the BIOS in my Quantex so that it allows full memory timing control (it was locked at CAS3, now it's running at CAS2), along with more PCI/AGP settings (which were hidden from view).

Igloo

ill get some piccy's tomoz, when i go into school. ill try and get some piccy's of me editing bios too.
AMD 64 4400+
2gb PC 3800 RAM
Asus a8n-Sli Premium
Nvidia 7800GT
5.1 creative Speakers
2x 250gb Maxtor S-ata drives
Windows XP Pro
32x DVD,
Dual Layer DVD Burner.

Server:

Amd Athlon xp 2400
1gb pc 2700 RAM
1x 40gb 1x 60gb IDE drives.
DVD - Rom.
Ubuntu Linux 5.10