Newbie Vikki's AMD Phenom II x4 computer/DAW?/build thread...

hour and a half is good, my fastest was about 45 minutes, but generally a couple of hours. Now its just loading software which is a bit like watching paint dry..zzzzzzzzz

I'll bet fixing the cooler took longest or was most tiring trying not to break anything.

Re fans, remember hot air rises and if there are no obvious pockets where hot air can gather make all the upper fans exhaust and lowest ones intakes. preferably cool air in from the front lower and out from the back upper this should then flow across the heatsink naturally.
 
I have two yellow connectors on a lead coming from the case. One says HD audio and the other says AC'97 which ones of these do I need to connect to the motherboard?;)
Vikki
 
Those are the front sound connectors, for the headphones/microphone most likely. You'll need to check the motherboard manual to see where they need to be plugged in.

I would keep the exhaust fan on the rear of the case as putting it on the top would increase the noise you hear, plus if you ever put anything on top of the machine, like I do, then you could block it.
 
vikki said:
I have two yellow connectors on a lead coming from the case. One says HD audio and the other says AC'97 which ones of these do I need to connect to the motherboard?;)
Vikki
Click to expand...

As said, they connect to the audio header on the motherboard (assuming you are using onboard sound)

Which one you use is up to you (HDADUIO is the better choice usually) but you need to make sure you select the matching setting in the BIOS for the Front Panel Connector (AC97 or HDAUDIO)
 
Ok sorry for the delay just got back from Overclockers with my nice shiny new SATA drive as recommended...question: There are five SATA sockets on the motherboard labelled SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_3 & SATA2_4 which one do I plug my yellow SATA DVD lead into? Do I logically start at 0?:confused:
Vikki
 
OK so I've installed the SATA DVD and checked all connections. I've installed my original HDD from my old machine which contains windows xp from my old computer leaving the 2nd data only HDD with the power disconnected so /i don't mess it up. I start the computer up and have been able to enter the bios and set the start up configuration to start from 1. HDD 2. cd 3. floppy and saved to cmos but as the computer tries to load windows a blue screen appears with an error message



Where am I going wrong?
What is the next step?

Vikki:confused:
 
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Could be old drivers on hard disk? press F8 for boot options, use safe boot and see if that works. Disable old drivers, install new drivers from gigabyte disk

Set boot preference, 1 FDD, 2 CDRom, 3 HDD, this will allow the PC to boot from the disk in the DVD drive before the hard disk.

Have you looked at PC health status in Bios for temps etc.

andy.
 
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Hi Andy, can you explain that a bit more? How do I disable the old drivers? Which disk should be in the DVD drive, is it the Sony DVD installation disk; the gigabyte disk or the windows 7 disk?
Thanks for your help
Vikki
 
Thanks
Is it possible to reformat the old hard drive in the new computer? I get the impression that if I started with a brand new HDD there probably would not have been a problem.
Thanks for your help.
Vikki
 
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Yes it is better to format the hard drive. You can do that in windows installation. Start the PC with the windows 7 setup disk in the drive and go for new installation, set it for the existing windows partition and ask it to format the disk.
 
vikki said:
Well here goes....I am going to post any questions and pictures about my new AMD Phenom II x4 computer/DAW build...if thats OK with the moderators and hopefully some of you experts can help me out. Approx. £500's worth of bits and pieces (more than my car cost me four years ago) that need assembling and firing up. Here is what I have:

AMD Phenom II x 4 cpu
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AMD 785G
Corsair XMS3 4GB memory
Corsair TX 650w psu
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP venom cpu cooling fan
Silverstone SST-PS03B Precision Midi Tower Case
M-Audio 2496

Vikki:D
Click to expand...

I am sorry for just barging in but are you using this from OCUK? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-011-OP&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=

You seem to be using the same components anyway. I am thinking of getting this bundle soon so i am watching this thread like a hawk :D

Good luck anyway!
 
Hi guys,
Startup does not appear to be seeing my DVD drive? Any ideas?
Thanks
Vikki

PS

lukefinch said :-
I am sorry for just barging in but are you using this from OCUK? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...id=339&subcat=

You seem to be using the same components anyway. I am thinking of getting this bundle soon so i am watching this thread like a hawk

Vikki says....
- everything is from OCUK (except the hard drives) similar set up different motherboard seems to be working great I'm just a bit green:rolleyes:
 
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You need to adjust the boot priority in the bios. If IDE HDD is first it will ignore the windows disk.

If you still have issues it may be easier to do what i suggested last night and run the HDD and old DVD off the same IDE cable. Then see if the new drive is recognised once windows is installed
 
At the moment, the computer is set up to check the hard drive for an Windows, then the DVD drive. You need to swap that order whenever you reinstall windows.
There's a visual guide how to change the boot order here:
http://www.hiren.info/pages/bios-boot-cdrom

The bios pages might be different on your computer- but just look for the option that has Boot in it.
 
Wehey...windows is installing.....I think...so far so good, fingers crossed.

:oTurns out I didn't go far enough down the list in the bios at first but after checking again I found my Sony DVD Drive listed - so I set it to 2nd boot.

Thank you
Vikki:D
 
You don't really need to reformat, just reinstall Windows on top of your old installation - it'll just overwrite the old installation and work fine (99% of the time:p)! I don't think it'll preserve your old applications and stuff (they'll be on the drive, but they'll need reinstalling), but if you have any data you want to keep on the drive they'll still be there. Only reformat if you don't have anything you want to keep!

Andy meant the Windows installation disk: you need to enter your BIOS setup and tell it to boot off the DVD rather than the hard drive. You do that by pushing a button while the computer is POSTing (usually DEL, but it can vary, it'll flash instructions at you onscreen in the 3-4" after switching it on and before it starts booting into Windows). Once you're in the setup program you'll be looking for an option called "Boot priority" or something like that, it'll probably be under "Advanced BIOS options".


vikki said:
I've had another look at the cpu and I'm not sure I can change the orientation....I might have another look later or in morning....
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure he meant the heatsink, not the CPU itself - don't try to force the CPU in a different way, you'll just snap off the pins!

vikki said:
I'll perhaps take a drive down to Overclockers again today and get a dvd drive in black and a floppy drive would be handy for the midi music i do.
Click to expand...
Wow, you still have sequencing equipment with floppy drives on them? :D
A new fast hard drive will definitely be a boon for you if you're doing music sequencing - as will lots and lots of RAM!
 
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