First time upgrading anything major, any tips?

tomanders91 · 6 Nov 2007 at 20:16

Just ordered the following last night, will arrive tommorow:

Gigabyte p35 ds3p - got the P version after reading lots of reviews that it is slightly more stable than the R version, and better with 4gb of ram

arctic cooler 7

corsair 520w psu

4g of geil ultra low latency ram

Already got a 8800gts 640 and E6400 which i will keep untill i get a quad next year.

This is the first time ive ever upgraded anything properly, ive changed a few ram sticks before but thats about it, and i wont have internet connection whilst doing it as this is the only computer in the house, although i do know someone who can help if i run into problems.

Has anyone got any tips for doing it? The process etc? what should i put on the mobo before putting it in the case etc, i pretty much no i need to take it slow and read the manuels and stuff.

One question i have though, as this system was prebuilt (although a custom prebuilt) and i presume the E6400 has some thermal paste on it, but the arctic cooler has some preapllied, so should i just leave that? (ive got some artic thermal stuff aswell just in case).

Also, i understand that when buying a new mobo (esp with these p35 gigabytes), when you first start up you should go into the bios and adjust settings, memory voltages/timings etc, can anyone tell me the essential things to check/adjust so its the most stable i can get it?

Cheers

Tom

edit: Just wondering, is there a chance that the gigabyte (I no the ip35-e's sometimes do) p35 board might no have usb keyboard support not enabled in the bios? If so im screwed unless i bought a ps/2 one.

edit 2: How does the RMA process work? What if i get duff ram or something?

Admiral Huddy · 6 Nov 2007 at 20:35

Yes, remove the artic silver with some TIm remover or denatured alcohol.

Make sure it's dry.

On the CPU itself, place the Artic silver in the middle of the CPU no bigger than a grain of rice. Having to much can negate the effect so remember this. Then grn some cling film and pull it tight over your fore finger. Then gently spread the compound until it covers the entire CPU. Do not be tempted to apply more paste . It will spread out.. just be ptient. Move in vertical directions (not in circles). Soon, the artic silver will shine. When it's like this, it's ready.

As for the BIOS, most BIOS setting will be set as Auto so you should be able to boot. Once you have installed windows, then check CPU-Z to make sure everything looks fine. The only concern is the memory voltages at this stage. Once you have a stable system, you can then think about changing the settings.

semi-pro waster · 6 Nov 2007 at 20:37

Wipe the existing thermal paste off the CPU, you can either do it with elbow grease, some TIM remover or even something like nail varnish remover at a push.

Other than that just take your time, maybe print out a couple of guides from the internet about building PCs if you are unsure.

RMAs etc I wouldn't worry about too much until you have to but you will need to call up the store you bought the goods from and they will give you an RMA number and talk you through the returns process.

tomanders91 · 6 Nov 2007 at 20:38

thanks very much for the advice

I got the stuff from ocuk so i guess i would just have to ring them up if i have any problems. Maybe i should buy some TIM stuff from ocuk for like £4 or something, not sure i have anything around the house to get it off.

tomanders91 · 7 Nov 2007 at 15:40

ok ive received the stuff today, i wont be building until i get a spare copy of vista 64bit from a friend that should be saturday or monday, any more advice or is that basicly it?

cheers

melbourne720 · 7 Nov 2007 at 15:44

As you build the PC, tidy each cable before you plug in the next one. Ideally use cable ties, but insulating tape will do. Search the forums for "your case" and "cable tidy" to see how other people have laid it out.

Oh, and relax

. And be prepared for an adrenaline rush when you first press the power button on a new system

tomanders91 · 7 Nov 2007 at 15:46

thanks melbourne

, i bought some of the akasa cable ties with the parts aswell, so i will do that lol.

melbourne720 · 7 Nov 2007 at 15:55

I was trying to tidy the mess I created with the build I did 8 months ago. It is impossible without taking the whole thing apart now. It's better than it was, but the next build I will be very careful with my cables. Apparently putting them under the motherboard works quite well.

tomanders91 · 7 Nov 2007 at 16:00

ok cheers, so its safe putting it behind the motherboard?

Also back to the thermal paste, the arctic freezer has some preapllied, its ment to be MX-1 which is pretty good, so is that ok? Im pretty confused though, do you mostly put the paste on the heatsink or the actualy cpu surface? Or both?

melbourne720 · 7 Nov 2007 at 16:08

The cables are completely insulated, so it should be fine. They did it in Custom PC a couple of months ago.

You'll only need one lot of thermal paste, if it is already applied the the AF7 Pro then just use that.

tomanders91 · 7 Nov 2007 at 16:10

thanks

wont i have some old stuff on my e6400 though? which i would need to remove.

Oh well i have some alcohol spirit wipe cleaner stuff somewhere which should do the trick if needed.

melbourne720 · 7 Nov 2007 at 16:16

Yeah, TIM cleaner, acetone or other organic solvent should do the trick.

EffBee · 7 Nov 2007 at 18:12

Allow lots of time. Read all the manuals. I always make copious little notes about everything I do at every stage of the process. For instance I record all the info printed on labels on optical drives and hard drives. Easy during assembly. Pain in the bum afterwards. I especially record anything I have a little doubt about.

Record all the BIOS settings before you start changing anything.

Use proper antistatic precautions for everything. Some people sneer at this.

If you assemble the Mobo Processor Heatsink outside the chassis/case ensure that you can get the whole assembly back in the case before everything is stuck together finally and for real. I have a tuniq tower that hates me.

semi-pro waster · 7 Nov 2007 at 18:16

EffBee said:
Use proper antistatic precautions for everything. Some people sneer at this.

It depends what you mean by proper antistatic precautions, I will touch a radiator or a PSU that is plugged in but not switched on to discharge myself of static down the earth but antistatic straps seem a bit of a waste of money to me. Principally because what I've just suggested does exactly the same thing and is both less hassle than a trailing strap and free.

EffBee · 7 Nov 2007 at 18:39

semi-pro waster said:
It depends what you mean by proper antistatic precautions, I will touch a radiator or a PSU that is plugged in but not switched on to discharge myself of static down the earth but antistatic straps seem a bit of a waste of money to me. Principally because what I've just suggested does exactly the same thing and is both less hassle than a trailing strap and free.

The trick is to make sure you, the equipment you are handling and the chassis are all at the same potential, not necessarily earthed. Personally I like a strap on the wrist connected to a largish antistatic mat also connected to the chassis.

We may be heading into cold dry weather soon which is worse for static than warm muggy summer.

comp builder · 7 Nov 2007 at 18:54

melbourne720;10438217 Apparently putting them under the motherboard works quite well.[/QUOTE said:
never thought of that. I've just installed a fan speed controller and have just spent the last half hour trying to tidy up my cables.
Is it safe though? it won't interfere with any of the soldered joints on the underside will it?

semi-pro waster · 7 Nov 2007 at 21:17

comp builder said:
never thought of that. I've just installed a fan speed controller and have just spent the last half hour trying to tidy up my cables.
Is it safe though? it won't interfere with any of the soldered joints on the underside will it?

Shouldn't do unless you somehow manage to pierce the data cables that you are tucking behind the motherboard and you'd have to be pressing pretty hard to do that.

EffBee said:
The trick is to make sure you, the equipment you are handling and the chassis are all at the same potential, not necessarily earthed.

That is getting a little bit technical I reckon, true enough I'm sure but I've never felt the need to get into that much depth. I've built upwards of 20 PCs and performed a fair few upgrades with nothing more than touching a radiator or the connected PSU and to the best of my knowledge none of the parts has died from static, even several years down the line.

tomanders91 · 7 Nov 2007 at 21:36

just looked at all my stuff, the manuels aswell etc just got a few questions:

1: Where abouts on the motherboard do you plug the cable from the dvd and cd drives into? I cant see it on the layout map anywhere?

2: In the motherboard manuel, it says usb keyboard support default for MS-DOS is disabled, is that for the bios?

3: With the power supply, i thought all the cables needed would just be the ones coming out of the main part, but theres lots of different sockets etc on the side with loads of extra cables, am i going to need all them?

4: When i put in my 8800, theres seems to be a few extra pci-e express power connectors on the motherboard, i presume these are for xfire? Do i just need to connect the psu to the 8800 and the 8800 to the motherboard?

5: Wow the arctic cooler is big lol, dwarves the stock one, but in the manuel it says you need to remove the fan before installing, then put it back on when its installed :S Is that only if you have trouble fitting in the case?

cheers

semi-pro waster · 7 Nov 2007 at 22:18

tomanders91 said:
1: Where abouts on the motherboard do you plug the cable from the dvd and cd drives into? I cant see it on the layout map anywhere?

Do you have IDE or SATA optical drives? Your motherboard has both, the IDE socket will be the long one with multiple pins (40 roughly).

tomanders91 said:
2: In the motherboard manuel, it says usb keyboard support default for MS-DOS is disabled, is that for the bios?

I'd enable it anyway, it won't do any harm.

tomanders91 said:
3: With the power supply, i thought all the cables needed would just be the ones coming out of the main part, but theres lots of different sockets etc on the side with loads of extra cables, am i going to need all them?

Probably not, your system isn't the most demanding in the world. Just connect up what you need to begin with e.g. motherboard, hard drive, optical drive, graphics card and that should be fine to start with.

tomanders91 said:
4: When i put in my 8800, theres seems to be a few extra pci-e express power connectors on the motherboard, i presume these are for xfire? Do i just need to connect the psu to the 8800 and the 8800 to the motherboard?

You should just need to connect the PSU to the 8800GT, as far as I am aware you don't need a passthrough to the motherboard.

tomanders91 said:
5: Wow the arctic cooler is big lol, dwarves the stock one, but in the manuel it says you need to remove the fan before installing, then put it back on when its installed :S Is that only if you have trouble fitting in the case?

Removing the fan is generally because it is easier to position it without the fan on but I'm sure you can leave it on if you really want.

simonnance · 7 Nov 2007 at 23:47

tomanders91 said:
With the power supply, i thought all the cables needed would just be the ones coming out of the main part, but theres lots of different sockets etc on the side with loads of extra cables, am i going to need all them?

I have the same PSU, and you will need the following modular cables:

1x PCI-E cable, these are 3x2 pins and plug into the GFX and the 3x2pin holes on the PSU

Molex/SATA cables, both of these plug into the 1x5 slots on the PSU, and then into your hard drives and optical drives. If you are running an IDE setup you will need MOLEX cables, and a SATA setup will need SATA power cables. The former have big 4 pin connectors, the latter are skinny little things

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article692-page1.html might help