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Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: TR on August 13, 2004, 16:08

Title: Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 13, 2004, 16:08
Ok.. I have all the parts now to start building the new PC, watch this space  :)

Spec so far on the parts I have

 

·   Pc chips Mobo 848 lu
·   AMD XP 2500 Barton
·   Maxtor 80gb 7200 rpm
·   XP Home
·   Saphire ATI Radeon 128 MB 9200se GPH Card
·   2 x 256 mb DDR400 PC3200 Crucial Memory
·   Pioneer 16x DVD RW
·   Aopen 16 x DVD Rom
·   Liteon 40x 12 x 48 CDRW
·   ATX I Chia  Aluminium Case
·   Winfast TV / PVR


Ps.. It will take about a week to finish building.
PPS.. I know its a crappy Mobo but I was originaly building a pc for my Daughter but changed my mind, she can have my old one now  ;D



Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 13, 2004, 18:43
Some of the Bits  8)

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hookstar.v21hosting.co.uk%2Fnewpc.jpg&hash=4f53195bc2bb7d65e18bdb75c18cc7fe0b4c1c7c)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Sandra on August 13, 2004, 19:28
Just curious Hooky  :)

Why have you gone for 2 x 256mb and not 1 x 512mb, future expansion is likely to mean replacing one of them with a 512mb if you decide to increase the memory later as most mobos seem to be coming with only 2 slots these days  ???

Why are you bothering with a cd writer when you have a dvd writer  ???
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 13, 2004, 20:33
Sandra, I have had some advice from the PC Chips friends that if you put 1 in slot 1 and 1 in slot 3 to activate dual Channel. And my logic reckons if 1 goes wrong you still have one left  ;)

Also The cd writer fills up the other compartment  ;D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on August 13, 2004, 20:39
Also The cd writer fills up the other compartment  ;D


So, what are you going to put in the forth slot?  ;D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 13, 2004, 20:44
Nexus Fan control and temp Monitor with 3 usb and 1 firewire port  ;)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on August 13, 2004, 20:47
Ahh...  8)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 13, 2004, 21:03
Simon.. this one http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=16424&cat=&page=1
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on August 13, 2004, 21:53
Yeah, I was looking at one of those myself last year, but never got round to getting one.  I think I came to the conclusion that I didn't really need it, not that that usually stops me buying stuff!   ;D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Hiatus on August 14, 2004, 02:16
OMG, I love it! :o

That's almost the same comp I want! (Specs-wise).
Only thing I would change so far is the graphics card. Radeon X800 all the way! 8)

P.S. What's the equivalent of the AMD XP 2500 Barton for a Pentium Processor? P4 2.5Ghz? Apparently AMD is better?
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 14, 2004, 08:35
Hiatus, As I'm not a gamer (games are banned on this puter and any puter I own  ::) ) this Graphics card is all I need  ;) and is ample for my needs.

And yes the 2500 AMD Barton is of excelent value @ £47
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 14, 2004, 11:11
Ive changed my Mind  :o on the MOBO, thought if I have a half decent PC why bugger it up with a crappy MOBO, anybody got any idea's on a decent MOBO.. answer before 6 Sunday night  8) please
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Sandra on August 14, 2004, 12:25


P.S. What's the equivalent of the AMD XP 2500 Barton for a Pentium Processor? P4 2.5Ghz? Apparently AMD is better?



The 2500 Barton runs at 1833mhz so technically the Intel P4 is the same speed although they work slightly differently so some people would say the the AMD is faster but some say the Intel is as fast and is more reliable.
Take your pick  :)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Tony on August 16, 2004, 20:36

Ive changed my Mind  :o on the MOBO, thought if I have a half decent PC why bugger it up with a crappy MOBO, anybody got any idea's on a decent MOBO.. answer before 6 Sunday night  8) please


I agree with your comments Hooky My Boy, now a decent MOBO, well all things considered I would have to suggest a....Oh bugger it's Monday .........  ::)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 16, 2004, 21:01
Thanks Tone  :P

Have ordered an Asus A7v8X-X Mobo from Novatech, hopefuly will be here on Wednesday  ;D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 17, 2004, 20:09
1st Problem  ;D

Have started to put everything together and?? the pin outs on the Case for the FP Audio have confused me now  ???

10-1 pin FP_AUDIO shows on the Mobo where 000 thats a jumper  ;D

MIC2        O-O AGND
MICPWR      O-O +5VA
Line out_r  000 BLINE_OUT_R
NC          0-
Line out    000 BLINE OUT _L


Lead is as follows

Red = ear R
White = ear L

Red Mic data
Black Mic Gnd


I sussed out the USB FP  :D



Hook
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 20, 2004, 18:26
Ok am half way through building  ;)

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hookstar.v21hosting.co.uk%2Fnewpc4.jpg&hash=59d477e910c20b736f566fddefb39a8e6d79df96)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Hiatus on August 21, 2004, 00:09
Yello, I'm back!  :heehee:  ;D

I was looking at ur pics and I noticed that there are some big blue wires (I think) coming from ur drives.

What are they for, and would I need them if I was building my own pc?
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Sandra on August 21, 2004, 00:24
Welcome back, hope you had a nice time  :)
Theyre just the same as the normal flat IDE ribbon cables but are split into individual wires and bound together as round cables so they tend to be a bit more flexible and can improve the airflow  :)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Dack on August 21, 2004, 01:06

Ok am half way through building  ;)

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hookstar.v21hosting.co.uk%2Fnewpc4.jpg&hash=59d477e910c20b736f566fddefb39a8e6d79df96)

Nice and shiny :)

Just finished building one for a friend of mine (it's a gift for his sons 18th birthday):
Athlon 64 - 3000+
128M Radeon 9800Pro
160G Sata hard drive
LG4082 DVD-Writer
2x256 Matched Crucial Ram (PC3200)
Floppy
Case and 400W power supply
Cordless Keyboard and Mouse
Asrock k8 motherboard

Came to about £520 (plus OS)

Made me want a new graphics card after benchmarking it though :(
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Hiatus on August 21, 2004, 02:15

Welcome back, hope you had a nice time  :)
Theyre just the same as the normal flat IDE ribbon cables but are split into individual wires and bound together as round cables so they tend to be a bit more flexible and can improve the airflow  :)


Ahhh, I see...

Makes sense I guess.

P.S. Yes, I did have a good time. Went fishing and caught a 4 pound pike, 23" long.  8) ;D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 21, 2004, 08:56
Hiatus..Have attached a close up picture to show the round cables they are a lot better to manipulate than the flat ribbons.


Dack, what made you go for the crucial 3200 matched memory? as I did exactly the same, mine was made more on ignorance rather than someone like you who is an expert on computers  ;)


(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hookstar.v21hosting.co.uk%2Fnpc1.jpg&hash=92d0b2e65f8f9f1773416ac2a6de46459b7cd5c6)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on August 21, 2004, 10:03
Hook, where's the header for your case fan?  I only ask, because I installed a very similar Asus mobo in my last build, (in fact, I'm pretty sure it was the same as yours) and it only had one case fan header, which meant the lead went right across the PCI slots!
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 21, 2004, 10:16

Hook, where's the header for your case fan?  I only ask, because I installed a very similar Asus mobo in my last build, (in fact, I'm pretty sure it was the same as yours) and it only had one case fan header, which meant the lead went right across the PCI slots!


Simon  ;D easy :P

I changed the PSU for a Gold 550WP dual fan, if you look closely you will see the lead for the fan just under the PSU and as there is 6 power headers on the PSU, I used one of these and hid the cable in the top of the case  ;)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Dack on August 21, 2004, 10:57

Dack, what made you go for the crucial 3200 matched memory? as I did exactly the same, mine was made more on ignorance rather than someone like you who is an expert on computers  ;)


I think that means I've just broken and fixed a lot ;)

I went for that memory for several reasons:
1. Bad/Suspect memory before (PC3200 that crashes after a short while) - I only use branded stuff now
2. Dual channel support in the board meant I'd get slightly better performance using 2x256 rather than 1 x 512
3. It was cheap :) - pretty much the cheapest 512 branded pack that Ebuyer had.

Probably option 3 that swung it :)

(Now looking at the page file on my other machine makes me think I'm going to have to upgrade that again - really think I should have more than 3Meg left of real memory - think I've got another 256 stick here somewhere but have to wait for it to finish processing the 2Gig file it's trying to sort :()
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 21, 2004, 11:10
Dack, I dont think I can go for the dual channel on my Mobo as its only supported by an Via 400 chip set, please correct me if Im wrong  ???

Option 3  ;) was close to my heart as well
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 25, 2004, 15:18
Whoopppsss a bloody big whoops  ;D whilst taking the Fan speed control fan out of my old PC it looks like I blew the Mobo when replacing the CPU fan  ;D

Anyway I had the Old/new pc chips mobo and fitted that in and would you believe it worked 1st time  :o   BUT!!!
Now the PC keeps asking me every time I boot if I want to register my XP operating system and I have 3 days to do so?? this is the old OS which I registered 2 years ago.. anybody have any ideas?
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Sandra on August 25, 2004, 15:37
Just register online Hooky if its a legal version  :)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on August 25, 2004, 15:44
Thank you Sandra.. just done that ..what a palava 200000000 numbers later everything now ok  ;D

Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 21, 2004, 16:07
New PC all built XP went on a dream with SP2 as did all the other bits n pieces all drives functioning ok ;D just finishing off with AVG and spyware bits  8)

Hopefully tomorrow will put it on the desk..as I type I ahve both pcs running on BB through the router  :o didnt know I had it in me  :P

Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on September 21, 2004, 17:04
:welldone:  Hook!  :D :D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 21, 2004, 17:24
Cheers Simon  ;)

1 slight problem  >:( the keyboard..do you think I can find where to change the @ and " to swap ..so bloody silly  :-\
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 21, 2004, 18:39
Sorted  ;D  silly keyboard  :brick:
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: joudi on September 21, 2004, 19:24
Tell us how you did it    :)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Simon on September 21, 2004, 20:09
Probably would have been in Language Settings, Joudi.
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 21, 2004, 20:12
Control Panel > Regional & Language Options > Reginal Options tab

Change the Standards & Formats & Region dropdowns to English (United Kingdom)

then in the Languages tab > Details

Change the keyboard layout to English (United Kingdom)

Apply the change    ;)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: joudi on September 21, 2004, 22:05
That's too simple Hook.

I thought that you have already your system default setting to "English UK". And Understood your question as wanting to set the "@" for any button of your choice (which is usually done by proffessional techniciens).
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 22, 2004, 13:57
Another small problem  :-\

Can't enter the Bios.. hit every button which way you can/ delete/escape/f1-f12/

Just wondering if the keyboard is not starting until the XP screen has logged on?

Mobo: Asus A7V8X-X with crash free bios

Any help would be greatly appreciated  ;)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Serenity on September 22, 2004, 14:44
I dont know if you have the same USB keyboard as my Logitech version, but mine has an F key to the left just under where the F1 F2 keys are situated and you would need to press this first to activate the F keys on the keyboard.  I had a similar problem trying to access the BIOS and you just have to very quickly press the F key then DEL whilst the pc is booting up and the BIOS should show... just a thought  :)
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 22, 2004, 17:17
The keyboard is an cordless 1. and from what I can see there is no F in Key under the F1-F12 ..never mind thanks for the input.

Perhaps if I get an USB keyboard it might work?
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: Sandra on September 22, 2004, 18:18
Cant think of the solution to get your current keyboard to access the bios but its always a good idea to have a basic PS2 keyboard as a spare to set the pc up with initially, you should be able to get one for a few quid.
A place near me has them for £3 :doggie:
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 22, 2004, 19:01

Cant think of the solution to get your current keyboard to access the bios but its always a good idea to have a basic PS2 keyboard as a spare to set the pc up with initially, you should be able to get one for a few quid.
A place near me has them for £3 :doggie:


How much will it cost in petrol to get there though Sandra  ;D he he more than the motherboard   :P

Ok.. here is how I cured the problem:

1,Turned off PC (unplug cable)
2,Removed the battery
3,Shorted the jumpers from 1-2 to 2-3 and vice versa
4,Reinstalled the battery
5,Turned on power again
6, and everything went straight into Bios as I booted

Changed all the settings and the silly splash screen on start up, now everything ok....learning about pcs all the time  :D
Title: Re:Started to Build new PC
Post by: TR on September 23, 2004, 19:04
Will all be finished tomorrow  ;D ALL the others programs have been transfered through the router and I just have to transfer the TV card over and load all the printer drivers x 2 plus the scanner drivers.

Flyingggggggggggggg  :boogie:

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hookstar.v21hosting.co.uk%2Fnewpc.jpg&hash=4f53195bc2bb7d65e18bdb75c18cc7fe0b4c1c7c)