First Ever Build - Supervision required :p

panyan · 1 Apr 2011 at 09:14

Right then, this is my first ever build. I have ordered:

- 2500k
- Noctua D-14
- 4gb Corsair XMS3
- Sapphire 5850 1gb
- Antec 300
- Corsair 600w Builder Series
- MSI GD65
- 500GB Caviar Blue

As i take delivery over the next week i will be taking photos and showing you my assembly.

Your job p) as seasoned professionals is to show me if i am going wrong anywhere before i make the mistake of destroying all my components in a school boy error!

To start us off, ive got a picture of my ram and cpu

I also got a second hand antec 300 with fans and a dvd writer already installed, but royal mail dropped it and ive been trying for two days to use pliers to reshape the corner back to being a corner! at the moment i cant even remove the side panel! bloody royal mail *mad*

UPDATE 1: 2/4/11

right then, i have decided to wait until i get the psu and test the fans and dvd drive, and then i will decide whether to return the case. I have used pliers to gently bend the metal back to a reasonable shape to get the side panel off.

got my delivery of the noctua d14 today

UPDATE 2: 5/4/2011

city link finally bothered to delivery my stuff, as well as DPD and the royal mail!

and the infamous ram to bump it up to 8gb

Update 3: 7/4/2011

ive got all my stuff now, im just going to follow the guide and hopefully if you see any issues arising early, you can point them out for me

the MSI GD65 that i got for a great price

and the corsair 600w

come to think of it - i love all my components

Update 4: 8/4/2011

First day of building today!

lots of pics for you!

PSU fitted

LOTS of cables!

drives fitted

All back back... apart from case

Case with all cables nicely managed

Start Step 3 of the building guide!

ooooh yeah!

porn on OC's?!

sorting out noctua d14 back plate

board waiting to recieve cooler and noctua lurking in the background

cleaned with IPA and with the mx-4

OOOHHHH! BABY!

decent clearance

very good clearance between the xms3 and d14

from the other side

is it ok to wrap the fan cables around to make it neater or are they going to melt :/

UPDATE 5: 10/4/2011

its all in the case

perhaps i should have chosen a smaller cooler...

MSI is my new favourite mobo manufacturer for neat little additions like this

the supercharger header

VERY messy front panel connectors

i need to order two back plates

noctua + 5850 = no space for plugging in cables :/

joxang · 1 Apr 2011 at 13:44

Good luck m8

. Don't hesitate to post and ask if you need any help.

panyan · 1 Apr 2011 at 13:46

joxang said:
Good luck m8 . Don't hesitate to post and ask if you need any help.

thanks, i will definately be taking lots of photos as i go along and might even make a video to explain what i am doing so i can remember when i want to build my next one

panyan · 2 Apr 2011 at 12:02

update 1: 2/4/11 see top

panyan · 2 Apr 2011 at 23:45

Bloody hell - ive just shelled out £20 on an assortment of different types of screws and standoffs - last time i buy a second hand case!

joxang · 3 Apr 2011 at 00:30

panyan said:
Bloody hell - ive just shelled out £20 on an assortment of different types of screws and standoffs - last time i buy a second hand case!

Lol...hurry up and get to the requisite number of posts for the member's market. Next time just put up a 'wanted' notice and I'm sure half the people on here will have tonnes of spare screws and standoffs to send to you

.

ION · 3 Apr 2011 at 00:47

Ha you get what u pay for

( ha i should know have a lian li

). But just make sure to ground urself before u install anything and ull be fine

.
Oh and make sure u line up the cpu right, other than that it's easy

. Also always hold anything by it's side's just incase (again static) that goes for everything ram, cpu and gpu.

Btw with ur motherboard make sure u have the B3 stepping model.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=5&subid=1906

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 08:14

ION said:
Ha you get what u pay for ( ha i should know have a lian li ). But just make sure to ground urself before u install anything and ull be fine .
Oh and make sure u line up the cpu right, other than that it's easy . Also always hold anything by it's side's just incase (again static) that goes for everything ram, cpu and gpu.

Btw with ur motherboard make sure u have the B3 stepping model.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=5&subid=1906

yep yep, thanks mate, i should say that ive been fixing pc's for years - ive just never built one from the ground up

bledd · 3 Apr 2011 at 08:35

One mini tip..

When putting your motherboard into the case, double check that you've got all the correct mounting pins in the case (no extra ones or any missing)

Then place the motherboard on top of them, now half tighten the outer 4 screws, make sure there's still a little room for it to move around.

Put the rest of the screws in, again, half tight. Once they're all in place, tighten them up.

If you don't do this, it can be a nightmare trying to get the last few in, and you can crack your motherboard if a screw puts too much lateral pressure on the board.

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:18

bledd. said:
One mini tip..

When putting your motherboard into the case, double check that you've got all the correct mounting pins in the case (no extra ones or any missing)

Then place the motherboard on top of them, now half tighten the outer 4 screws, make sure there's still a little room for it to move around.

Put the rest of the screws in, again, half tight. Once they're all in place, tighten them up.

If you don't do this, it can be a nightmare trying to get the last few in, and you can crack your motherboard if a screw puts too much lateral pressure on the board.

mmm, nice, thanks - that will be useful

Im just trying to decide how im going to mount my noctua D14 - before or after i put the d14 in the case?

1) install heatsink backplate -> install heatsink -> lower motherboard into place

2) install heatsink backplate -> lower motherboard into place -> install heatsink

bledd · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:29

If it's got a blackplate, I install them before putting into the case

Without a backplate, it just bends your motherboard

Just take your time and ask on here if you're no 100% sure about something, people are always happy to help

SeraphX · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:50

install the noctua before the mobo in the case

pretty sure space will be very very tight in there with it all in

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 09:56

Seraph said:
install the noctua before the mobo in the case pretty sure space will be very very tight in there with it all in

but will i have space to access the mobo screws with the noctua in?

SeraphX · 3 Apr 2011 at 10:05

i should think so, is the board ATX? or Micro ATX? pretty sure theres a screw near the top of the board near the ram slots that might be a tight squeeze.

i would go with my first suggestion though, i remember trying to fit a Titan fenrir into an Antec DF35 it was a nightmare with the board in the case not enough room and your Noctua is quite a bit larger

Nemesis379 · 3 Apr 2011 at 10:14

MSI GD65 is ATX, and gl with build.

joxang · 3 Apr 2011 at 11:54

Seraph said:
i should think so, is the board ATX? or Micro ATX? pretty sure theres a screw near the top of the board near the ram slots that might be a tight squeeze.

i would go with my first suggestion though, i remember trying to fit a Titan fenrir into an Antec DF35 it was a nightmare with the board in the case not enough room and your Noctua is quite a bit larger

It can be a nightmare either way. Heatsink first, lower mobo in is probably the better way to do it in a restrictive case, but you need a long screwdriver for the ATX mounting holes. They're not blocked off by the heatsink, but normal screwdrivers might not be able to fit between the heatsink and the case to get to them.

You have top and rear fans though, so take those off before you install the mobo and you have two handy holes to work with. You might find that you can fit your hands in through those holes to tighten the heatsink screws, so you can put the mobo in first and then do the heatsink.

Experiment and see

.

panyan · 3 Apr 2011 at 23:27

bledd. said:
Just take your time and ask on here if you're no 100% sure about something, people are always happy to help

reeceLAV said:
gl with build.

Thanks very much you guys, im getting the mobo, psu and hdd tommorow hopefully so ill upload a few more pics - im gonna wait till i get everything to start putting it together so i dont rush becuase i am excited

panyan · 4 Apr 2011 at 22:18

ARGH!!! my mobo, psu and hdd was meant to come today, i didnt leave the house at all and the tracking said it was loaded in the van ready for delivery... and at 8pm it said it was back at the warehouse!!!

I HATE city link!!! they have done this before to me!!!

SeraphX · 4 Apr 2011 at 22:41

yep city link are generally gash, shoulda gone with DPD

panyan · 5 Apr 2011 at 18:15

ive gone update 2 in the first post

ALSO guys, with my MSI GD65, it says that i shouldnt use standoffs - can this be right?! perhaps i misread their taiwanese-english