PC Assembly Finished

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 21 Mar 2002 Karma :

finished the assembly, not quite sure the HD and DVD drive are done right, but didnt want it to drag over until tomorrow

so here it is... it does boot to the POST screen, or at least it did before i installed the HD and DVD drives, from this point is the bit im dreading, cos im crap at software and installing, and even worse at troubleshooting problems, but at least it looks nice

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/comp5.jpg

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/comp4.jpg

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/comp1.jpg

Case - Antec P180 - £79.72

Motherboard - A8N32-SLI Deluxe - £134.25

Processor - Athlon 64 3700 San Diego - £147.10

RAM - Corsair XMS 3500LL 2GB - £217.87

Power Supply - Antec NEO HE550GB 550W - £77.48

Operating System - XP Home SP2 - £58.74

Graphics Card - Gainward BLISS GeForce 6800 GS GLH 512MB - £149.45

Western Digital WD1200JS Caviar SE 120GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 8MB Cache - OEM - £47.60

LG GSA-4167BRL 16X Dual Layer Dual Format DVD ± RW Writer - Black Retail Pack - £29.90

total = £942.11 which came in under my 1k budget, although im sure i'll get the smart arses saying, you could have got this cheaper and that cheaper, but not bad for my first build i dont think
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

Luke_Retrofly · Silly Lesbian Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Karma :

NEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRDDDDDDD

Laughing

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Nb · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 May 2005 Karma :

Similar to my set up, except my processor/mobo is not as good. Thumbs Up

Have you got a graphics card cooler in there atall? It might help if you play bf2 and other system hogging games. This is pretty cheap and it one i use https://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=268543 Very Happy

Cant remember if your motheboard has a chipset fan like mine, if it does they used to be prone to failing in like 2 months or so. So listen for any odd noises coming from the chipset fan because mine stopped. Mad

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divuk83 · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2003 Karma :

Looking good, once you have built one its easy next time as you know what your doing. Was trying to convince a mate at work that its easy to figure out and if you build one the next one will be easy, but he wasn't convinced!

Not sure about XP home as its my most hated OS, how much more would it have been to go for XP pro version or 2k Pro? If there is a chance to take it back and swap it and pay a few extra quid for a different OS I would do it.

Also 120gb is quite small these days, you will fill it in no time if you download a lot of stuff.

What HD is it? SATA or IDE? If its IDE put it on a separate cable to the CD drive and set the pins on both drives to master. If you use and IDE drive on the same cable as a CD rom it will not run as fast as the CD drive will not be ATA 133 or even 100.

Good luck with the install of the OS, though its really easy so you shouldn't have any problems.

Dave

Psychofly · Nova Slayer Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Karma :

Good system mate.

If you want constructive criticism (very minor though) then I would have spent less on the case (Antec are very good cases though) and got 1GB of RAM just now and put the cash into a higher spec graphics card. Don't get me wrong the 6800 is VERY good... it's what I use.. but it would have given you a stronger system if you'd got a 7800 with 1GB of RAM and bought another 1GB later in the year.
Saying that though it's a VERY VERY VERY VERY minor point and the system is very good.
Well done on your first build mate. And remember a lot of people will read my suggestion and say I'm talking shite. A lot of it is down to personal preference.
Enjoy your new PC.

Tarmacsurfer · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Karma :

Nice. Great cases.

As an aside, I'd actually say the better case was a good choice, a good case will last you alot longer than a graphics card, it's worth the initial outlay to get something that will see you through a few builds.
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Psychofly · Nova Slayer Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Karma :

Gazdaman · I did a trackday!!! Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Karma :

Looking good goose, the software installing is the easy bit!!

Maybe think about partitioning the HDD now, cuz this is the time to do it.

I've got my 40gig partitioned in half. D:\ is for Mp3s etc, and it's good for when I want to format, I just put everything on D: and format the OS and everything else that is on C:

Gaz

veeeffarr · Super Spammer Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Karma :

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 21 Mar 2002 Karma :

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 21 Mar 2002 Karma :

divuk83 · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2003 Karma :

Luke_Retrofly · Silly Lesbian Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Karma :

djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

cagiva gezzer · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 Mar 2003 Karma :

See you took my advice and went for Antec. Thumbs Up

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djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 21 Mar 2002 Karma :

cagiva geezer, after you mentioned them, yes went for antec, the P180 specifically mainly based on the many happy customers on ebuyer, despite some power cable issues, figured if i went for antec power supply as well they should be compatible, and had no issues with any cable length whatsoever

appreciate all the comments and feedback as always peeps Thumbs Up

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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

WildGoose · White Van Man Joined: 21 Mar 2002 Karma :

finished

as far as software goes, my "how to build a pc" book listed loads of shit i needed to do

config hard drive
config optical drive
enable USB
config AGP video card
blah blah blah, enable this, disable that

ended up having to do nowt, motherboard did everything for me, recognised everything

so all i had to do was change boot order from floppy 1st to cd-rom drive first, and then installed XP

XP took about 40 mins, then did that stupid phone activation thing, and have 1 working pc, with all drivers installed

happy now Very Happy

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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

daz|n00by · The Internet Joined: 11 May 2004 Karma :

Update your gfx drivers and if its a real version of windows then check for other updates on the updates website, they usualy have updates for your board and various other driver updates.
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djr · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Nov 2003 Karma :

m99dws · World Chat Champion Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Karma :

Bandito · Scooby Slapper Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Karma :

I have got the black P180 case, which is sweet, but have noticed the door at the front bows out slightly which is annoying.
The PSU being at the bottom is wierd too