Self-build project

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RufusW

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Hey people.

after a few threads a while ago I finally decided to build my own computer instead of going with mesh et al. I've now recieved all the parts and have started to build. I've read all the manuals etc... but already there's questions I can't answer.... so... if you guys could lend a hand I'd be very gateful..

Intel Pentium 4 630 "LGA775 Prescott" 3.0GHz (800FSB) HT Technology - Retail
Asus P5ND2 SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-102-AS)
Corsair 1GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x512MB)

XFX Geforce 6600GT PCI-E 128mb DDR3 TV+Dual DVI *Extreme PVT43GNDD7

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU

Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache – OEM

NEC ND4550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) – OEM

Logitech Media Keyboard Elite - Retail (KB-066-LG)

AG Neovo F419 19" TFT 12ms 500:1 (1280x1024) (Analogue/DVI) Monitor - Black

Belkin F5D7000UK 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter (NW-007-BE) –

Logitech S96 PS/2 Optical Wheel Mouse Sea Grey - OEM (KB-047-LG)

Windows XP Professional
about £950

1st problem - On the Asus motherboard there's four DDR2 slots, CH1 yellow, black CH2 yellow, black. the manual says for dual-channel configuration CH1 = CH2. so I've put a 512 in each yellow slot. correct or not? does dual channel mean it's running twice as fast... which I think i read somewhere...

2nd problem - Should I connect DVI straight away from my graphics card, or for the first time boot-up connect my monitor to my mobo?

apart from that, had a little trouble putting the fan and heatsink on the p4 630. Needed a lot of pressure and a mobo was bending a fair bit, hope that hasn't damaged anything :(

am putting in a few more hours tonight, i'm sure it won't go all smoothly so I'll be back in a little.

Thanks for any answers to these problems btw :)

Rufus
 
put a stick in slot 1 and slot 3 for dual channel, its not much faster but it helps, hook your monitor up to the graphics card it should work but you may have to use the onboard then set the BIOS to use the graphics card, the motherboard should be fine as long as you didn't hear any cracking sounds

one good tip is to hook some speakers up to it as the ASUS boards dont just beep but tell you if there are any problems
 
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Windows XP Professional
about £950
Thats a hefty price for the OS , should have googled for a better price :D
Good luck with the build :thumb:
 
Well I heard the OS was pretty important so had to shell out for the best.

got it for the 'buy it now' price on ebay. didn't come with a CD but I suppose that doesn't matter too much...

thanks for the advice so far... will keep you posted :)

Rufus
 
Hey guys,

I've just finished plugging in my power, and all the other cables etc... BUT need a few more queries answering if you've got the time :)

the motherboard manual is saying I should use the IDE cable to connect a master (harddrive) and slave (DVD drive) on one cable. However, there doesn't seem to be an IDE connector on the samsung harddrive for the IDE cable. It's sata instead so i've hooked it up to SATA1, plus a power point. I've connected my DVD drive to the DVD-ROM IDE cable that came with the mobo, and connected that to the primary IDE on the motherboard.

Is this the right set up? seems logical to me, but i suppose the DVD drive might have to be connected to the mobo's secondary IDE slot. manual really isn't clear on this one...

Also, i've put in my Gt6600, but it's a little bit off on the back panel, meaning there's a gap where the screw's meant to go. Is this just a problem with the compatabiity of case/board, should they ALWAYS fit snug?, or does the card need to be REALLY pushed in? It won't go any further without a lot of force...

Is sellotape okay to clean up the cables in my case? :)

hopefully with these little bit's sorted I can boot up and get into BIOS... then it all kicks off again :)

thanks for any help in advance...

Rufus
 
Do yourself a favour you've spent £950 so far , go spend the extra £2 or £3 and get some decent electrical tape or some mini cable ties . Sellotape indeed :rolleyes:
 
Hey guys,


I'm wondering about securing wires to my case, I suppose something like duct tape'll do...

another couple of questions, mobo didn't come with an internal audio cable to connect DVD-drive to the mobo. does audio go through the IDE cable or will I need to buy a cable?

with power, I've connected a 24-pin connection, and a 4 pin connection. There's also a 6 pin (2 rows of 3) connection from the PSU, don't know what that's for though.... any ideas?

Any help with these questions would be much appreciated..

Rufus
 
Well, when I said I was a complete amateur at this.... I really meant it!!

I know nothing about computers, all I know is what the manual is telling me. They're all honest questions... i don't know anyone who's built a computer before and I really don't want to be turning this thing on without being 100% sure that's it's connected up properly.

I was going to buy a pre-built system, but, on this board, was advised better of it.

The DVD-Drive has audio out and the mobo has audio in, but I presume now that the IDE does this anyway. Once again, any help much appreciated :)

Rufus
 
Ok, lol, let’s assume you’re genuine and look at all the points you’ve raised.

1) On the Asus motherboard there's four DDR2 slots, CH1 yellow, black CH2 yellow, black. the manual says for dual-channel configuration CH1 = CH2. so I've put a 512 in each yellow slot. correct or not? does dual channel mean it's running twice as fast... which I think i read somewhere...

It probably is the two yellow slots but your motherboard manual will tell you which slots are one and two. Place the memory modules in those.

No, it won’t run twice as fast, but it will slightly improve overall performance.

2) Should I connect DVI straight away from my graphics card, or for the first time boot-up connect my monitor to my mobo?

Seeing as how that motherboard has no onboard graphics I’d be intrigued to know how you intended to connect the monitor to it.

The first thing you do is mount the motherboard in the case. Connect case front switch & led connectors, connect internal loudspeaker. Fit CPU/heatsink/fan. Fit memory (you can fit the last two items out of case if it’s easier for you).

Make sure you have connected the heatsink fan to a suitable power source, either a 4 pin PSU molex connector or more likely a three pin plug on the motherboard.

Fit the multi-pin PSU connector to motherboard. Fit the 4 pin 12V PSU connector to motherboard.

Fit graphics card. Connect monitor (to graphics card) keyboard and mouse and mains lead to PSU.

Have a good look around and double check everything, then switch the computer on.

Observe screen. If you get some writing and one beep from internal speaker, celebrate.

It will probably terminate with a message similar to ‘No Operating System found’ ‘No boot media’ or something like that.

Switch the machine off either by PSU switch or holding in front on/off switch.

3) apart from that, had a little trouble putting the fan and heatsink on the p4 630. Needed a lot of pressure and a mobo was bending a fair bit, hope that hasn't damaged anything

So do I. Have you powered it up yet?

3) the motherboard manual is saying I should use the IDE cable to connect a master (harddrive) and slave (DVD drive) on one cable. However, there doesn't seem to be an IDE connector on the samsung harddrive for the IDE cable. It's sata instead so i've hooked it up to SATA1, plus a power point. I've connected my DVD drive to the DVD-ROM IDE cable that came with the mobo, and connected that to the primary IDE on the motherboard.

Sata drive connects to SATA One, DVD drive connects, preferably, to IDE One. Set jumper on rear of DVD drive to master and use the end connector on the IDE cable (it’s usually labeled ‘Master’)

4) Is this the right set up? seems logical to me, but i suppose the DVD drive might have to be connected to the mobo's secondary IDE slot. manual really isn't clear on this one...

Nope, you done good the first time.

5) Also, i've put in my Gt6600, but it's a little bit off on the back panel, meaning there's a gap where the screw's meant to go. Is this just a problem with the compatabiity of case/board, should they ALWAYS fit snug?, or does the card need to be REALLY pushed in? It won't go any further without a lot of force...

If you look at your graphics card, at the bottom you’ll see what looks like a long extension with lots of small bright metal contacts. When you push the card in the slot, all those metal contacts should be out of sight in the slot. It does require a fair degree of pressure, but don’t go mad, you may break something. If it doesn’t want to go, check the motherboard manual and make sure you’re putting it in the right slot.

5) Is sellotape okay to clean up the cables in my case?

Don’t be a complete and utter Wally. Would you use sellotape inside any other electronic device? On your car? No, you wouldn’t. Sellotape is for paper.

6) I'm wondering about securing wires to my case, I suppose something like duct tape'll do...

There you go again……. Why stop there? How about a hot glue gun? Or araldite? I am, of course joking. Cable ties and self adhesive cable tie mounts are about the only things you should use to secure cables.

7) another couple of questions, mobo didn't come with an internal audio cable to connect DVD-drive to the mobo. does audio go through the IDE cable or will I need to buy a cable?

You won’t need the 4 pin connector if you’re using Win XP. The audio signal is transferred through the motherboard.

8) with power, I've connected a 24-pin connection, and a 4 pin connection. There's also a 6 pin (2 rows of 3) connection from the PSU, don't know what that's for though.... any ideas?

That may be for your video card, probably is. Again, read the manuals, the graphics card manual, motherboard manual and if one came with it, the PSU manual. Studying those should make it obvious.

Take your time, double check everything as you go.

First, test the motherboard without any hard drives, floppy drive or optical drives connected, as I described above. Then think about connecting the other devices.

You’re either very naïve when it comes to computers, or you’re testing us for a magazine or another website. I do hope it’s the former ;)

Good luck, we’re here to help. If you get stuck, get nervous or want advice, just shout :)
 
Okay, I suppose I should have researched this all a little more before paying out 950 squid, but it's all fun hey!

btw, I do a politics degree, it's not stupidity, just being naive

didn't realise my mobo doesn't do monitor output... sorry.

I've done the CPU, fan, chassis connections and power, just needed a little clarification. the IDE cable says mobo/HDD/DVD-ROM, I thought it HAD to be used.

i'm putting ther graphics card in the right slot...PCI-E x16, but it's not totally aligned with the case screw. I'll probably just turn it on and see whether it picks it up, just thought there might be industry standards for the back panel...

okay, i take your point about sellotape...

I have read all the manuals. They are written to some extent for people who already have some knowledge about the subject... as I said, i'm a complete amateur.

one question. Why would you have both a DVD-ROM and a DVD-writer... unless you want 2 CD's in your system at once?

I'll probably be switching on the system tonight so i'll post again with what happens.

Thanks for the advice floppy, i think you advised me to build my own in the first place :)

Rufus
 
Ok, Rufus, sorry if I sounded a little harsh ;)

Reason for having both DVD-ROM drive and DVD-RW? Primarily for copying disks without having to swap out each time. A DVD-ROM drive is only about £13.00-£15.00, a small expense for convenience.

You can also use the DVD-ROM drive for normal CD & DVD playback & read, thus saving the lifespan of your more expensive DVDRW.

If the graphics card is above the PCI slot retaining screw at the rear, I'd suggest you check your motherboard mounting. Are all the external outputs aligning with the panel that came with the board? If so, just apply the graphics card retaining screw lightly for now while you check all is good on basic components.

Also make sure the card is seated soundly, as I described formerly.

Did you resolve the issue about the Graphics card needing it's own power connector? If it does need a connection from PSU and it's not connected, you won't be able to POST (boot, fire up, whatever you want to call it). You'll also get a warning tone from the internal loudspeaker and an error message onscreen.

Good luck.
 
okay, run into a couple of problems.

I pressed the on switch, everything seemed fine, lights all on, two fans going, noises from DVD-drive and HDD, had a beep-b-beep from the speaker but no signal on the monitor.

firstly, the graphics card doesn't seem to be working... the fan doesn't start (or should it not start straight away anyway). The only power connector I haven't hooked up (but have tried and it made no difference) is a 4 pin connector for SLi use. The 6 pin connector I was talking about says PCI-E, but there's no place on the mobo for it ??!?!

secondly, the output on the card is DVI, but the DVI cable that came with the neovo has connectors which are too small. the normal connection is the right size for both though.

Should i try and get hold of another graphics card which i know works and try it in the slot, see if it works straight away?

i suppose i could have dead-ed the card with static... or maybe it's D.O.A. Needless to say i'm pretty pi**ed.

any help much appreciated
 
do you have power hooked up directly to the card ? you should have a plug for the PSU to connect to
 
okay, update.


i've now jammed the little bugger in, and it's started working, or at least the fan's going around.

so good good,

however, there' still no signal on my monitor, because the DVI won't fit I'm using the old style connector.

as I said before, HDD's making noise, DVD's making noise, all fans are working, all lghts are working...

any ideas?

there's no power input on the card itself, just needed a fair amount of pressure (i.e a lot)

any help REALLY appreciated at this stage... so close yet so far...

Rufus
 
if your'e using an old VGA monitor then you need a converter to connect it to the DVI port on the graphics card
 
The ports on the graphics card don't seem to be DVI. The DVI cable that came with the neovo DVI monitor will not fit them. i'm therefore using the VGA ports.


also, does anyone know what different beeps on start-up mean? i've been looking at asus website, not too much help.

thanks for the input. think it might be a faulty graphics card... hmm...

Rufus
 
found this, tells you what beeps mean
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1223

one long beep, two short ones... therefore graphics card problem.

hmmm...

doesn't seem to me there's much I can do except send it back. If overclockers say it's my fault, static, bending it etc... then there's nothing I can do except buy a new one.

any ideas?

rufus

p.s this is just a running commentary of me messing up basically, great :)
 
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