Building my new comp list - Pending Anandtech approval

[Octane]

Can people who have experience please comment on the following chronological procedure of building my new comp?

Thanks!

The mobo is an Epox EP-8K7A+ (cpu 1.4 athlon), the cpu's heatsink/fan is Thermalright SK-6 w/ Delta 60x60x25 fan

1. Power supply (install fan on power supply, if needed)
2. Apply ASII to motherboard's heatsink
3. Place motherboard in case's tray
4. Latch CPU on motherboard
5. Apply ASII
6. Place shim on CPU
7. Place heatsink, make sure its latched also (the ASII isn't gonna dry and keep it on)
8. Attach case wires (buttons, leds, etc.)
9. Put in drives for RAID (make sure jumpers on them are correct, you don't want to mess with jumpers once they're inside your case)
10. Set FSB jumpers to 266 (until I decide to overclock)
11. Put in Video card
12. Put in all hdd's, cdroms and floppy
13. Set up RAID in BIOS (Ctrl-H)
14. Load up windows, format the drives.
15. Install onboard raid driver
16. Put in the rest of the cards, drives, cd-roms

Materials:
Razor-blade
Lint-free cloth
Nail polish remover/acetone/isopryl alcohol
Philipshead, duh
1 >= Eye

 

[FriedRiceBob]

i would suggest placing the cpu and heatsink, as well as the ram, on the mobo before mounting it in the case. this just lowers the stress on the mobo, because you can mount the heatsink while on a perfectly flat, hard surface, rather than resting on the motherboard mounting pegs. just a little extra care against cracking your motherboard

 

[Octane]

Alright, thanks Bob.. so I'll put everything on the mobo first then mount it in the case

 

[HansXP]

<< Set FSB jumpers to 266 (until I decide to overclock) >>



You mean 133, don't you? The FSB is double-pumped to make it seem like 266, but it actually runs at 133.

 

[Windogg]

You made the classic newbie mistake. Lemme fix it for you.

17) Kick back with a nice brewski.

Get it right next time or I'll have to confiscate your system.

Windogg

 

[Octane]

<< You made the classic newbie mistake. Lemme fix it for you.

17) Kick back with a nice brewski.

Get it right next time or I'll have to confiscate your system.

Windogg >>


Seeing that you're in NY, windogg, you'd have to join me!

Hans, could you explain a little bit more about the FSB since I got it all wrong apparently?

 

[Octane]

^bump^

Im so scared of building it!!

 

[wfbberzerker]

dont be scared - i was scared too when i built my first computer.

just remember, you have to push pretty hard to put the heatsink/fan on the processor.
just dive in, and you should be ok.

 

[bigbootydaddy]

what, no nachos??

no booty?!?!

booty

 

[NateSLC]

<< 2. Apply ASII to motherboard's heatsink >>


I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know, you only apply a thin layer of ASII to the CPU core.

 

[Megatomic]

<<

<< 2. Apply ASII to motherboard's heatsink >>


I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know, you only apply a thin layer of ASII to the CPU core. >>



Maybe he is going to pull the chipset cooler off and put ASII on it as well. I have seen lots of reviews where the tech found the mobo manufacturer used low quality thermal compound for their chipset cooler.

If that is what Octane is talking about, it is not a bad idea.

 

[Megatomic]

<< Hans, could you explain a little bit more about the FSB since I got it all wrong apparently? >>



The Tbird platform uses a 133MHz front side bus (base frequency from which all other bus speeds are derived on the motherboard), but instead of using the leading edge of the pulse, it uses both the leading and trailing edge of the pulse waveform giving you an effective fsb of 266MHz. (133MHz x 2 = 266MHz).

 

[human2k]

Don't be scared...........its only $100 down the drain if you crush the CPU kernel..........wait and another $120 if ur screwdriver accidently slides and cut ur mobo's PCB. Only $220 down........but you get expierence.........expierence is priceless. You'll just be poor until the next pay check.......................

 

[Octane]

<<

<<

<< 2. Apply ASII to motherboard's heatsink >>


I'm not sure what you mean here. As far as I know, you only apply a thin layer of ASII to the CPU core. >>



Maybe he is going to pull the chipset cooler off and put ASII on it as well. I have seen lots of reviews where the tech found the mobo manufacturer used low quality thermal compound for their chipset cooler.

If that is what Octane is talking about, it is not a bad idea. >>


That is exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Octane]

<< Don't be scared...........its only $100 down the drain if you crush the CPU kernel..........wait and another $120 if ur screwdriver accidently slides and cut ur mobo's PCB. Only $220 down........but you get expierence.........expierence is priceless. You'll just be poor until the next pay check....................... >>


LOL!! Thats actually how I look at it =]

 

[johndoe52]

<< Don't be scared...........its only $100 down the drain if you crush the CPU kernel..........wait and another $120 if ur screwdriver accidently slides and cut ur mobo's PCB. Only $220 down........but you get expierence.........expierence is priceless. You'll just be poor until the next pay check....................... >>


Funny but true. I'm out $110 cause I fried my 1.2 TB(that's what i payed for it)*tear*. Or unless I find the paper work and RMA this thing. Otherwise I'm waiting for prices to drop cause I'm just going to sell my current system to a buddy and build a new one with DDR and the XP!!! Small price to pay for happiness.

 

[zzzz]

18) install the OS and start cracking for Team Anandtech