First time building a computer, some questions

tomanders91 · 10 Dec 2006 at 14:14

Well soon im gonna be ordering all my parts, just got a few questions about building and about the computer itself.

1: firstly are there any saftey issues i should worry about? for me and the hardware? ive heard about static breaking things.

2: Should everything i order come with all the cables i need for everything? i heard that the psu sometimes dosent come with the cable to the mains? is this true?

3: Ill be having a DS3 mobo with an antec 900, will i have any USB ports for cameras and stuff?

4: does the retail CPU come with thermal paste, and how much do u need to put on?

5: will 520w corsair PSU be enough for a 8800GTS?

6:When i first start it up, do i just need to pop in the OS disc and im ready to go?

7: gennerally how hard is it too put together?

thanks to anyone who takes *** time to answer the questions

James07 · 10 Dec 2006 at 14:44

tomanders91 said:
Well soon im gonna be ordering all my parts, just got a few questions about building and about the computer itself.

1: firstly are there any saftey issues i should worry about? for me and the hardware? ive heard about static breaking things.

2: Should everything i order come with all the cables i need for everything? i heard that the psu sometimes dosent come with the cable to the mains? is this true?

3: Ill be having a DS3 mobo with an antec 900, will i have any USB ports for cameras and stuff?

4: does the retail CPU come with thermal paste, and how much do u need to put on?

5: will 520w corsair PSU be enough for a 8800GTS?

6:When i first start it up, do i just need to pop in the OS disc and im ready to go?

7: gennerally how hard is it too put together?

thanks to anyone who takes *** time to answer the questions

1: Just make sure you put down any computer parts on the static wrap it comes in... make sure u also put the mobo pillars under the mobo you do not screw the mobo to the chassis of the case.

2: It depends on what you buy, check before hand if you cant then when it arrives check the manual to what you should have recieved in the package, most PSU's now comes with mains so dont worry about that.

3: Every mobo nowadays has 4 usb ports and most now come with a pci slot for 4 more USB's

4: AMD CPU's have a thermal patch on the CPU's Heatsink... Intels dont... so you need to apply a small drop about the size of a pea on the center of the CPU.

5: More then enough power there for that card...

6: Usually... You may need to toggle some BIOS settings i had to, you may have to set your HD as the primary drive and set the CD drive as the main Boot drive... all easily done just have a mess around. Use your motherboard manual as reference at all times... will help you a lot.

7: It is very very easy aslong as you do it properly, but i cannot stress enough... make sure you have the motherboard pillars for the chassis, you screw them to the shassis the the mobo sits on top and you screw the screws into the pillars... if you forget this you WILL fry your mobo no doubt about it.

Just use your mobo manual and it basically talks you through which ports to use first i.e. ram ports and how it all sits together and how to do safety checks to how its all set up properly. Just be very careful, dont rush and just take acre in what your doing, the mobo is the most important part if you ask me, its worth while to plug all the chassis wires into the mobo before you screw it in. Make sure you have the anti stat bag under the mobo at all times until your screwing it in obviously... let me know how you get on!

P.s. you may get someone doubting what i say, but that is how i put mine together and i did it last xmas and guess what, its working perfectly :-)

good luck.

Dingleberry88 · 10 Dec 2006 at 14:51

tomanders91 said:
1: firstly are there any saftey issues i should worry about? for me and the hardware? ive heard about static breaking things.

As long as you don't skate around a carpeted floor in your socks and handle the components by the edges you'll be fine.

tomanders91 said:
2: Should everything i order come with all the cables i need for everything? i heard that the psu sometimes dosent come with the cable to the mains? is this true?

You'll need some cables to connect your CD/DVD drive and hard drive, but you normally get a few with your motherboard. As for the power cable, I've not bought a PSU in a year or so, but I didn't get one with mine. They're only a few quid if you need to buy one though.

tomanders91 said:
3: Ill be having a DS3 mobo with an antec 900, will i have any USB ports for cameras and stuff?

Any motherboard made within the last ten years has usually got at least 1 USB port so that should be no problem. Yours will probably have 4+.

tomanders91 said:
4: does the retail CPU come with thermal paste, and how much do u need to put on?

The heatsink will have a thermal pad stuck to the bottom. Unless you're going to be overclocking it'll do.

tomanders91 said:
5: will 520w corsair PSU be enough for a 8800GTS?

Yep.

tomanders91 said:
6:When i first start it up, do i just need to pop in the OS disc and im ready to go?

Correct. You might have to set a few things in the BIOS if you've got a SATA drive though.

tomanders91 said:
7: gennerally how hard is it too put together?

Easy. Just make sure you take your time, handle the parts carefully and double check you've got everything plugged in before you power it on (especially the graphics card, I always forget that).

tomanders91 said:
thanks to anyone who takes *** time to answer the questions

No problem.

Edit: Dang it, beaten.

James07 · 10 Dec 2006 at 14:56

Dingleberry88 said:
Edit: Dang it, beaten.

hehe...

tomanders91 · 10 Dec 2006 at 14:59

thanks both of you for the replys

really helped.

Ill keep in mind what you said about frying the mobo, ill keep that in mind lol.

James07 · 10 Dec 2006 at 15:03

tomanders91 said:
thanks both of you for the replys really helped.

Ill keep in mind what you said about frying the mobo, ill keep that in mind lol.

lol i would, i did a work experience in a pc shop, some daft kid came in with his... fried his mobo ;-)

was funny...

you wont get them with the mobo put you get a pack of like 40 for like £1 in town... easy... and its almost inpossible to get them online so pfft... town for the win... good luck.

thefishdude · 10 Dec 2006 at 15:48

my case came with *** stand allready there

it came with 6 pre applied and then a a bag of 4 more. of wich i neede to put in 3 more.

Mattus · 10 Dec 2006 at 18:50

Even cheapo cases tend to come with the standoffs supplied, they are essential

The DS3 is an excellent board, it has 10 USB ports IIRC.

As for building, take your time. Almost all components are designed only to fit one way - if something isn't going in, don't force it. It's probably easier to fit the CPU and cooler before the mobo goes in the case, though this depends how good your case is. Don't neglect case cooling!

When it comes to installing XP, you're probably gonna have to supply the SATA drivers to Windows setup on a floppy disk, but people will talk you through that when you come to it, if you don't know already.

tomanders91 · 10 Dec 2006 at 20:54

ok thanks, its an antec 900 case i will be getting, not sure if i will have a floppy drive though so not sure if i can do that :S

PilotTait · 10 Dec 2006 at 21:32

Mattus said:
When it comes to installing XP, you're probably gonna have to supply the SATA drivers to Windows setup on a floppy disk, but people will talk you through that when you come to it, if you don't know already.

Im in the same situation... will be buying the EVGA Nforce 680 motherboard with two 250GB SATA drives, no idea how to do what you just said