PC building help

[-DarthMaul-]

Hi, all my parts are laying on my bed. I can start by putting in what I know. Stick in the Memory, Hard drive, CD/DVD, Graphics Card and Sound Card, and the CPU. The heatsink might be a bit difficult since ive never done anything like this before. But there is a manual definatly in the Heatsink/Fan Assembly, which I havent opened yet.

All I am missing now is the Windows.

My new PC, just ordered.

1- What should I do? find a random PC Building guide, and start from there? (most important)

2- My Hard Drive and CD/DVD came OEM, so Im gonna have to go to a small custom PC shop, and find those needed cables.(dont think BBuy or CCity sells them separetly)

3- When it comes times for me to install Windows, will it be easy, and straight forward? (least important since its last.)

Thanks in advance.

[SteVen]

1. Theres some nice guides online, Google found me this

2. I don't think im the best to answer that one..don't really use OEM products.

3. Windows is pretty simple to install and straight forward, yes.

[smythe]

I've built three machines over the years; here's what I usually do:

1. Install memory, CPU on motherboard
2. Fit motherboard inside case
3. Connect all case accessories (all of those tiny connectors that come with the case) to the motherboard; try to get the connections right the first time, since they're tough to fix later on. I do this first because the wires are so small.
4. Attach extra case fans to case (if any), then connect case fans to MB.
5. Install HD and optical drives in case, then connect them to MB
6. Decide which expansion slots you're going to use for video card, sound card, etc., then remove metal inserts on case next to the slots.
7. Install expansion cards
8. Connect power supply to all components
9. Connect power supply to wall outlet
10. Fire it up! Go immediately to BIOS screen and make any necessary adjustments
11. Format the HD (most HD manufacturers have formatting and partitioning software available for download; obviously you'll need this before you begin to build...)
12. Install the OS --- Windows installations are almost always painless, assuming that you're not building with Raid arrays, multiple HDs and you're not dual booting (XP on one partition, Vista on another). This step can take anywhere from 20 mins to an hour, depending on the OS.
13. Once you get to the Windows desktop for the first time, the first thing you should do is connect to the Internet and run Windows Update. Then go to all of your hardware manufacturer's websites and search for the latest drivers for your devices, if Win Update fails to find them.
14. Install your antivirus and firewall software (if any)

From there you should be good to go! Be patient, don't try to force things to fit where they don't belong, and make sure to discharge your body's static electricity when handling sensitive parts. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[-DarthMaul-]

Yeah thanks for the help guys I have everything installed, except the Zalman heatsink/fan CPU cooler, Im reading the separate instructions on how to fit it onto the CPU, etc. And all I am missing is 2 SATA Cables(one long for CD/DVD and one short for HD) and I should be set.

Except the front I/O panel is very confusing to connect im leaving that to a friend(and follow along ofcourse)

[-DarthMaul-]

Lol I have everything installed now. EXCEPT windows. Gotta buy that. Anyhow I decided to power it up and see what happens. It goes to DOS, and that stuff, asks for driver CD, etc. Stuck the CD in, it read it. So Everything works Thank god.

Cant wait for windows to start using it. Going to go with Windows XP 64-Bit.

Edit- I also found out how to put in the Front I/O, very easy, just as well Im so excited.

[Kwould]

Keep in mind that there is limited driver support for WinXP 64 bit.

[Ya Boi Rajon]

*taking notes*

[-DarthMaul-]

Originally Posted by Kwould

Keep in mind that there is limited driver support for WinXP 64 bit.

lol can you or someone else, expand as to what you mean? What do you mean by limited driver support?

[-Slick-cRiSsI]

Originally Posted by -DarthMaul-

Edit- I also found out how to put in the Front I/O, very easy, just as well Im so excited.

-COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX --Mid Tower Computer Case
-ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
-EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
-AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor
-OCZ Flex XLC 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
-ViewSonic Optiquest Series Q20WB Black 20" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
-LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model LH-20A1S OEM BK
-Creative 70SB046A00000 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
-ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
-AOC FC-2000 PCI Slot Case Cooler
-COOLER MASTER RS-550-ACLY ATX12V / EPS12V 550W Power Supply 115

I would also be excited with a Nice PC like that!
and congrats on building everything

[Oblivious]

Originally Posted by -DarthMaul-

lol can you or someone else, expand as to what you mean? What do you mean by limited driver support?

What that means is don't be too surprised if you run into stability issues with some of your hardware (soundcard, videocard, etc). 64 bit XP isn't a widely used OS, and as such "they" don't seem to be too concerned with updating drivers like they do with 32-bit OS's, which is what most folks are still using.

Think of driver support like game support.
--Good game support: gets patched often, fixing bugs and enhancing compatibility.
--Poor game support: you're lucky to get even one patch, if any, and it still doesn't quite fix all the game's bugs.

Some building a system guides:
I like this build guide, tons of pics and written for the lamen:
Corsair : Building a High Performance Gaming Box

Here's a decent, informative build guide:
Build Your Own PC

[-DarthMaul-]

Well in all honesty I've seen enough people praise the 64-bit version, and not having too much problems with thier top notch PCs. So this seems like another good step up for me. Thanks for telling me about that though. Also thanks for the guides lol.

[Bs|Archaon]

My advice is that if you want 64-bit, buy Vista. If you don't want Vista, buy normal XP.

[-DarthMaul-]

Well I checked up on my Chipset, GPU, and Sound Card Drivers support, and they are all available for the x64 vesion so Im safe with it.

Besides, Im expecting better performance with this OS, since most of my hardware is x64 supported.

[Oblivious]

Originally Posted by -DarthMaul-

Well I checked up on my Chipset, GPU, and Sound Card Drivers support, and they are all available for the x64 vesion so Im safe with it.

Besides, Im expecting better performance with this OS, since most of my hardware is x64 supported.

Bear in mind that drivers being available doesn't mean they're good, stable drivers. It's also quite common to run x64 compatible hardware with a 32 bit OS, I presume 95% or more of the people at this forum would fall under that category.

I'd go with Bs|Archaon advice above: If you must get 64 bit, avoid XP and get Vista.

[Count_Chocu1a]

It really doesn't matter if your hardware supports 64 bit software, if the software makers don't support it. Like the other guys said, skip XP 64 bit. Nvidia has"t put out an updated 64 bit XP driver in quite some time, neither has creative. Only a couple of games support xp64 bit. It is a waste of money. Get xp Professional if you want to stick with XP, otherwise go with Vista.