A new build log

Mr Doovde

Mr Doovde

Mr Doovde

Associate
Joined
25 Jan 2009
Posts
506
Hello Everyone. All of my components have arrived for my first build. To be honest, I’m apprehensive and excited in equal measure. I will try my best to take photos as I progress, but the camera I own is pretty awful so they might be of a poor quality.

I choose an AMD build, even though for the money I probably should have gone down the i5 route, and am still not sure why. I’ve tried my best to learn what I can from all you guys, but I will most likely need help on a step-by-step-basis :o. I can only hope that one day I can repay this help and offer advice to people with their builds. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here are the components for my new build:

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition
Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 (Socket AM3)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair HX 650W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply
LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - Retail
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
ThermoLab Baram CPU Cooler
Akasa AK-FN058 Apache Black Super Silent 120mm Fan
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound

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I will install everything inside a second-hand Silverstone Fortress FT01B-W Tower Case.

Old vs New

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Though I've spilt some tea on my old case today, and the Fortress needs a good clean on the outside. Here are also a few of the rough specs of my old computer:

Intel Pentium D 820 2.6Ghz
1024mb DDR2 memory
ATI RadeonX700 Pro graphics card

As you can see, the new computer should blow me away (assuming I don't blow it up first).

Unfortunately, the build may take several days as I have to look after my niece and nephew for several days and I normally struggle to look after a plant :p. I'm planning to first install the PSU as greywolf's building guide recommends. I plan to install the PSU upside down as I've seen a lot of Fortress builds do this to intake cold air. Although, I will be placing the Fortress on a carpet, with dust and stuff, so I'm not entirely sure if that's correct.

I will post again after I've installed the PSU and have made the kids some food. :)
 
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I wish I had bought the HX rather than the TX PSU for my recent build, a modular PSU makes such a difference to the ease of build and amount of unused wire in the case.
 
Thanks for all the good luck wishes. I was lucky enough to purchase the case for £60, so I consider myself lucky. I've just installed the PSU:

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I will now attempt to install the CD/DVDRW drive.
 
Good luck, take your time, good lighting and easy access are a must,
just changed cases today, my first attempt went horrid and had to run to brother, but
after milling on these forums it was a breeze :).
 
Well it seems to be very straightforward to install optical drives on the Fortress. I simply had to unscrew the front panel, press a large button to retract some metal pins (to allow me to slide the drive through) and then press the button again to keep it in its place:

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The black colour of the optical drive seems to blend in nicely with the case.
However, I again apologise for the awful photos.

I will continue this tomorrow methinks.

Thanks for the tips iNPUt. Talking of good lighting, I've just started to use a torch (damn energy saving light bulbs aren't bright enough). It's good to hear that it all went ok for you. Which case did you swap to?
 
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I hate bottom located PSU's when the fans pointing cm's from the floor.
I usually install them upside down, but thats my pet peev, no idea if its actually bad for the PSU though.
But good good that set up looks fineee
 
Hello again. It's taken me a while to get back to the build due to other commitments. I've now installed the I/O shield and the standoffs. Unfortunately, the standoffs didn't have an 'A' next to them to show me which ones are for the ATX form factor. I've measured and compared the case's holes to those on the motherboard, so hopefully everything should be fine. I felt really sorry for the poor guy who forgot them during his first build.

I must admit, it seems to be a nice looking motherboard:

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I've also installed the RAM, but I was a little bit paranoid as to whether I was pushing too hard. However, the clips snapped back in place so I think it's all good. I've placed the motherboard onto the anti-static wrapping (although the wrapping is inside out as recommended to keep its anti-static properties. I also have an anti-static wrist strap connected to the earth ground via the wall socket, and I keep on touching the radiator like crazy. Oh dear :p.

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I think I will insert the CPU, heat sink, hard drive and other stuff tomorrow. Hopefully I will get there in the end. I think I'm most concerned about the thermal paste. Should I spread it with my fingers via a plastic glove, or put just let the heatsink spread it for me? In addition, do I apply the paste in a certain way for quads or because I'm using MX-2? I will also try to search the forum etc.
 
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if its your first time applying, my advice is to just put a small amount, about the size of a small pea, onto the centre of the cpu, and when u mount the heat sink the pressure will spread it across.

That way it defiantly ensures you have covered the cpu where it needs it most.
 
Before I insert the heatsink, could you please tell me if it looks like I have applied the correct amount of thermal paste? It's a bad camera, but hopefully it will enable you to tell.

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This is a bit of a stupid question, but when I install the heatsink's backplate behind the motherboard do I install it behind the original plastic backplate (that came with the motherboard) or take this away and just use the heatsink's backplate? :o:)

Thanks for telling me it was the correct amount Ben-Irvine93. Bad pics it is then. Any advice for the the above question is greatly appreciated.
 
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Looks to be a nice rig in the making and congrats on getting a fortress for £60.

Is it just me or does that first picture of the thermal paste look like the Apple logo. :D
 
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