My 1st time inside a pc

Krellor

Krellor

Krellor

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Joined
3 Feb 2009
Posts
110
Hey guys, I've been looking at your forum for awhile now, and a few weeks before christmas a mate of mine bought a new pc. So as a bit of fun I bought his old off him, with the plan of messing about with an oldish pc before spending real money on a new 1.
As best as he can remember its something like: AMD X2 X64 6000, 3 gig of ram(he has no idea what type now), Asus M3A78 motherboard, windows vista 32, a 600watt power supply(again not sure) and not sure of HD. All of this works fine, apart from hes sprayed his case and made a real mess of it and hes telling me the stock cpu cooler is making the cpu run a bit warm(about70c). So my plan is to buy a new case/cooler and pull all the guts from this 1 and place in the new case, sounds easy right?? That was until I realised I had no idea of what I was doing.
He aslo gave me an anti static bracelet and told me never open the case unlees I have it on and Im grounded, although Im still unsure of how to do this.
So here I am asking, Before i get started what major do/donts do I have to do or dont, and what major scew ups should I be looking out for?
Your advice will be well received and Id like to say thanks in advance to anyone that replies.
 
You dont have to wear an anti static wrist band although it is advised. As long as touch the metal parts of the case with both hands, this puts you at the same voltage as the case. I normally touch the frame of the case, have one hand on the case when installing is advisable. Also remember that carpet will create a lot of static, so dont rub yourself on the carpet when installing components. So have the case on a hard surface and wear rubber soled shoes. Everything else is fairly simple tbh, dont touch the pins on memory etc, just use common sense.

Matt
 
Yeah Ive never used wristband and never had problems, just make sure you discharge any static from you before you start, and if you sit at a table to do your build alls good. Main thing is dont force anything, it should all slot together like lego, if somethings not going in youve prob got it wrong way round or somat, take it out and try again. Good luck
 
Ive never used an anti static strip, and I always build mine on the carpet with no shoes as well.

I do do what I believe your mate advised you (before I presume some was lost in translation), which is to avoid touching certain areas if possible, without the case plugged in via kettle plug to the wall socket. You certainly dont have it switched on! Have it switched off at the wall socket, or PSU's own switch if you arnt fiddling with the power connectors.

If ive been walking about and approaching it for the first time, power supply not yet in and grounded, I might destatic myself on a radiator first.
 
No straps 'ere. Just be careful with the PC. Treat it as the sophisticated piece of electronic equipment it is. There isn't a lot that you can do to royally b0rk it, but it is fragile.
 
Ranto said:
ROFL! - you obviously live life on the edge :cool:
Click to expand...

As soon as I read this guy's original post i knew somone would reply stupidly like this it's his stuff he does what he wants! How is living life on the edge not wearing rubber soled shoes when making a comp!?!?
 
Is worth using the wristband if you have one TBH.

Just take your time, read through a few tutorials find out how each part works etc and you'll just start learning really
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranto View Post
ROFL! - you obviously live life on the edge
As soon as I read this guy's original post i knew somone would reply stupidly like this it's his stuff he does what he wants! How is living life on the edge not wearing rubber soled shoes when making a comp!?!?
Click to expand...

It caused me to smile, yes it may be his stuff, but in a sense he is living life on the edge as far as his PC is concerned. Static may cause damage which will show up immediately, in a day, a week, a month, a year, or maybe not at all. I wonder how miffed he would be if while using his PC for some important work (or play), it malfunctioned due to static damage caused while building it. Then there's the hassle and potential cost of repair to consider.
 
Thanks for your replys. I've been watching youtube most of the day and from what I saw these bits are pretty tough. So the plan is to order the cpu cooler an case tonight/tomorrow and have a bash over the weekend.
ATM its in a mini atx case but i think I'll get something a bit bigger. Most people here seem to like the antec 300, and thats good enough for me, so its just a cpu cooler. I've taken the rather useless looking stock cooler off to check, and it is a athlon x2 x64 6000, so if you guys could recommend a cooler for about £30 or so and I'll get that ordered asap. Thx again.
 
I always believed that touching the psu will 'ground' you and the probability of causing damage is minimal.

Have never used anti-static mats/wrist band and I only ever have enough room on the carpet
 
happy_2008 said:
I dont see what all the fuss is! I always build it without the kettle plug in and double check that the psu switch is also turned off!
Click to expand...
Actually, it's probably better in terms of static shock if you leave it plugged-in. That way it's earthed at the wall. When it's plugged-in there is power going to the motherboard, so you don't want to remove some components in that state.
 
long ago nylon and artificial fibers were used a lot in clothing and carpets its not so bad now.

I remember jumpers that gave of a spark if you rubbed them hard enough, and carpets that could wipe out an entire roomful of computers just by walking up and down fast.

Not so bad now but I always try and touch a radiater or something, did not know the 2 hands on case trick.
 
You don't need two hands on the case, just to touch it at all. The charge moves fast enough to make your whole body neutral.

Krellor, you've chosen one of the most important parts to do first, but also one that you have to take a lot of care with. Make sure you read the instructions carefully and apply the correct amount of thermal paste. When you start the computer after installing, run SpeedFan for a while and make sure the temperatures on both cores are between around 30 and 70 degrees most of the time. It's okay if they spike up to about 90, but in general it should be 70 or lower. If it consistenly goes higher, or gradually climbs the whole time, you should look at re-seating the HSF again.

As for the rest of it: Like people have said, it's mostly a case of reading the manual and slotting it together. Things won't go into slots they aren't meant to.

Finally, the number one rule of computer building: there's no such thing as too much cooling.
 
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