Author Topic: Building a new computer (Read 5445 times)

JB Lee · « **on:** April 29, 2008, 01:45:14 PM »

Well, I'm building a new computer and I think I have successfully picked out all of the components. I just wanted to see if anyone has had any positive or negative experiences with any of them. Also, it's always good to get a few fresh eyes to look over everything to make sure I didn't make a serious mistake in compatibility, I'm pretty sure it all works though. Buying everything through Newegg because it seems to have just about the cheapest price on every item and I like to have everything shipped and received at the same time.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD - link

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor - link

RAMx2: Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit - link

HDx2: Western Digital Caviar GP WD5000AACS 500GB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - link

DVD-top: LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM - link
DVD-bottom: SAMSUNG 20X DVDÂ±R DVD Burner Black - link

Graphics Card: EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported - link

PSU: COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 ATX12V / EPS12V 750W - link

Case: COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver Steel ATX Full Tower - link

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I'm putting on a 64bit Vista, but I'm having trouble deciding which type. I am leaning away from ultimate because it just seems like a waste of money/space. I have home premium on my current laptop and it's turned out OK after about 4 months of constant deleting, uninstalling, and de-vistaing. I am thinking about getting basic since I never use the Home Premium software and I hate the Aero theme. Don't say I should get XP, because I like to be on the horizon of technology, not sitting in the back waiting for the new stuff to stop exploding, regardless of how much I hate/complain about it.

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A few questions:

Is IDE vs SATA that important when it comes to DVD drives? I am thinking of going with two IDE DVD drives and using them in a Master/Slave config, would that be sufficient or should I spend the extra money for 2 SATA?

Will a 750w power supply be enough for the 8GB of RAM and 1 TB HD or should I think about going with a 850w?

Does anyone have any experience with this particular CPU and what it can overclock up to? I'm going with AMD because they seem to have a better stance on the Desktop market than Intel at the moment, but I don't have any experience with the overclocking power of an AMD.

I heard AMD runs hotter than Intel, should I consider getting a CPU cooler? The case should provide enough flow and fan power for the rest of the system, but I'm worried about the CPU.

Am I missing anything? I don't want a sound card, so don't worry, I didn't forget that and I already have 2 17" widescreen monitors, so I'm set with that as well.

Small Shoe Magoo · « **Reply #1 on:** April 29, 2008, 03:37:50 PM »

Questions ->

Is IDE vs SATA that important when it comes to DVD drives? I am thinking of going with two IDE DVD drives and using them in a Master/Slave config, would that be sufficient or should I spend the extra money for 2 SATA?

SATA is 'noticeably' faster, and I'd be surprised if your MOBO didn't have slots already.

Will a 750w power supply be enough for the 8GB of RAM and 1 TB HD or should I think about going with a 850w?

Yeah, but why so much HD space o.o?

Does anyone have any experience with this particular CPU and what it can overclock up to? I'm going with AMD because they seem to have a better stance on the Desktop market than Intel at the moment, but I don't have any experience with the overclocking power of an AMD.

AMD XP 3200. Never bothered to over clock it.

I heard AMD runs hotter than Intel, should I consider getting a CPU cooler? The case should provide enough flow and fan power for the rest of the system, but I'm worried about the CPU.

AMD runs incredibly hot. If your fan goes out while doing something using much of your CPU it will most likely go up in smoke. Doesn't require any water coolants unless you want to overclock it, but just a few fans to cool the system down.

Am I missing anything? I don't want a sound card, so don't worry, I didn't forget that and I already have 2 17" widescreen monitors, so I'm set with that as well.

JB Lee · « **Reply #2 on:** April 29, 2008, 03:49:24 PM »

I'll probably end up getting the regular DVD-ROM with IDE and then the SATA version for the burner since I'll most likely be using that more. It's only about $6 difference though, so it really doesn't matter.

I have 6 external HD's right now ranging from 100GB to 500GB each. The smaller ones are full and the big ones are all about half full. I would love to be able to stop switching back and forth between externals and just be able to have all of my stuff on internal drives. I am actually considering getting a third 500GB just in case (or maybe instead of 2 500GB, i might get 1 500GB and 1 1TB).

Found this CPU Cooler ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835186134 ), a bunch of reviews say it is good so I'll probably get it. The Cooler Master case is specifically designed to keep everything cool, so it should be fine.

Stop Reading My Name · « **Reply #3 on:** May 01, 2008, 02:55:57 PM »

I like the case, it should have more shiny stuff on it. 'Twod distract me more.

JB Lee · « **Reply #4 on:** May 02, 2008, 09:13:03 AM »

I like the case too, and I'm glad theres no flashy lights, they annoy me.

Well, I just hit "Submit Order". I think I changed 1 or 2 things from that list up there due to compatibility nonsense. And I decided to go SATA on everything. I also through in a Logitech G11 keyboard (G15 sucks no matter what you say), a newer version of the headset I always get, and a fancy mouse (all Logitech).

I went with Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

Go check out the Laptop I'm selling on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=220230691678

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I just got the confirmation email and apparently every item except the headset is shipping from California, the headset is coming from Arizona and they're charging separate shipping for it...

Mr.E · « **Reply #5 on:** May 02, 2008, 06:49:56 PM »

Nice laptop dude. If I had the funds I would definately purchase. Should sell for sure.

Stop Reading My Name · « **Reply #6 on:** May 02, 2008, 08:38:26 PM »

" I had absolutely no problem with any of it, runs like something you would expect to find in NASA. "

SUPER XD

oh yea and it's coming from california because they have paid me to run it all the way to your house. I'm getting three dollars.

reminds me of something like this:

JB Lee · « **Reply #7 on:** May 02, 2008, 09:00:05 PM »

Well, except for the fact that it completely sucked in any and every way, it did run perfect.

http://images.thetechguide.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\':lol:\' />

What I don't understand is how mine can be so bad, and yet Allanon (who bought his 3 days before me, exact same model/features and everything) has zero problems whatsoever. I mean, from the time I took mine out of the box I had 50 problems, I had no problem hopping on the Vista Sucks bandwagon due to my experiences, and yet his runs perfectly.

Even as I type this, Allanon is playing Age of Conan on his laptop. I spent 2 days downloading the beta/patches and then finally got it up and running and I can't even run it on the lowest of low settings. He's running without a hitch on medium... I hate my luck...

Oh well, my new computer should be here and built by Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. Can't go wrong with 8GB RAM, 3.2 GHz CPU, and a $300 video card. At least, I hope not...

JB Lee · « **Reply #8 on:** May 02, 2008, 09:11:20 PM »

Though I think the problem might be the fact that Age of Conan's graphics are way too extremely amazing.

This is the lowest of the low settings (I clicked low, and then went through and made things even lower...):

They need a "Super Low" setting.

Stop Reading My Name · « **Reply #9 on:** May 02, 2008, 09:16:53 PM »

[quote name=\'JB Lee\' post=\'427857\' date=\'May 2 2008, 07:11 PM\']Though I think the problem might be the fact that Age of Conan's graphics are way too extremely amazing.

This is the lowest of the low settings (I clicked low, and then went through and made things even lower...):

They need a "Super Low" setting.[/quote]

Solution: Munching on [censored]sticks while waiting for the game to load setting.

on a second unrelated note, what made you choose premium instead of ultimate?

JB Lee · « **Reply #10 on:** May 02, 2008, 09:47:45 PM »

I was never going to go with ultimate, way too much stuff I would never use/want. I was going to go with Basic but I decided to stick with Home Premium for a reason I can't remember.

Stop Reading My Name · « **Reply #11 on:** May 03, 2008, 10:00:58 AM »

Hey look what happened right after you bought your ram

http://images.thetechguide.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'

\' />

Is there a basic x64? I don't think there is... maybe that's why you chose premium.

Before you sell it to someone are you going to put the system theme files back in so at least they can have the areo skin?

JB Lee · « **Reply #12 on:** May 03, 2008, 12:40:27 PM »

Figures, memory sale right after I buy 8GB...lol

There's a 64-bit version of each type of vista.

I'll be using the system restore disks that came with the laptop before I sell it.

JB Lee · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2008, 09:53:57 PM »

Well, I got everything in the mail today. The case is...slightly bigger than I thought, when the box came and said 62 lbs on it I thought "Hey, they must have put everything in one box.", and then I saw 2 other boxes and realized the 62 pound one was just the case...

Anyway, everything got hooked up fine and dandy. HD's work, DVD drives work, all 9 fans work, video card's light started out red but then I fixed the cords and it turned green and the fan on its underside started working. In short, everything works perfectly...except for the picture.

I turn it on, everything starts spinning and flashing and it all works fine, but the monitor just stays black. I took it into another room and it worked fine on another computer, I even got my other monitor and it had the same results...blackness.

Any ideas? I've never had this happen before. I tried resetting the CMOS, no effect.

I found the exact same problem on Google about 10 times, however every time it was concluded that the reason was because my mother board isn't compatible with OCZ RAM...but I'm not using OCZ RAM, I'm using A-Data RAM. I can't find anything on incompatibility with A-data.

I tried using one stick of RAM at a time, nothing. I'm getting no beeps or anything, but I don't have speakers plugged in so I don't know if I would even hear any.

mindlogiczero · « **Reply #14 on:** May 08, 2008, 08:59:58 AM »

mine had same problem, you could try unplugging all the cords inside the pc then repluggin them tightly. or try hooking it up with less as you have done with the ram, maybe try using onboard video card if it has one?

could be a ram prob aswell but you should get a beep if it was, and you get beeps without speakers.

JB Lee · « **Reply #15 on:** May 08, 2008, 09:14:10 AM »

I've been looking it up a lot, and everything I have seen regarding this specific motherboard leads me to believe you need speakers t hear the beeps (about 8 topics on random forums where people say "Did you plug in speakers? Did you hear any beeps?"). So I'm going to go find some old speakers around here.

It's weird though, I've never had this problem before. I know how to plug it all in correctly, so I'm thinking it has to be some kind of compatibility issue.

mindlogiczero · « **Reply #16 on:** May 08, 2008, 09:23:42 AM »

well going back when i had the connection with cords issue i got picture just wouldnt load, and the unpluggin/repluggin wasnt sayin you didnt know how to plug it up, just my computer power supply has like a shortage in one of the cords or somthing? it acts weird.

i did have a ram problem before and thats what yours sounds like, even when i had it the ram i purchaced said it was the same type as my pc required but didnt work, i took it to tigerdirect and they tried a different ram and it started up fine. anyway you can borrow a stick from a friend or somthing to check it?

JB Lee · « **Reply #17 on:** May 08, 2008, 11:13:01 AM »

Update:

I took my RAM and put it in another computer, works just fine, all 4 sticks. I took the RAM that was in the other computer and put it in my new one and I had the same black screen problem. So, either both brands of RAM are incompatible with the mobo (and I can't find a single place online that says they are), or RAM isn't the problem.

I then took the video card from that computer and put it in the new one, same black screen problem. I put my new video card in the old one and it worked just fine (though I'm not sure if the PSU on the old one would be good enough to support it full time). So, Video card works good...

I then noticed that the PSU has a little LED light on the back and that it wasn't on. I searched the model number and found that the light only comes on when there is a problem...so back to square one.

At this time, the only components in the system were Mobo, CPU (and cooler), RAM, PSU, and Video Card. So, all thats left is the CPU and Mobo that could be the problem. However, my other computers are all Intel and this new one is AMD, so I can't exactly swap them out to check.

From what I have read online, I am thinking it is the Motherboard that is the problem. I plugged in some speakers and still didn't hear any beeps, wouldn't there be beeps if it was a CPU problem?

I think I'll be returning the Motherboard to Newegg for a replacement of the same model. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll send in the CPU because thats the only other possible explanation. I just don't like their 15% restocking fee...

Arrgh...

JB Lee · « **Reply #18 on:** May 08, 2008, 12:20:33 PM »

WOOT!

I fixed it...not sure how though...

I cleared the CMOS once before, it had no effect. I just cleared it again and it worked.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the 4 ft tall, 80 pound case up the stairs...

JB Lee · « **Reply #19 on:** May 08, 2008, 01:50:43 PM »

Got it all back in the case (was testing it on a flat piece of cardboard) and it didn't work...

I was just about to go get a gun when I noticed that all of the little 2 pin cords connected to the System Panel Connecter were facing me...except for the reset button. I switched it around and then it booted up.

Yay, all done.

News:

Author Topic: Building a new computer (Read 5445 times)