noob help

sumyungi

sumyungi

sumyungi

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Joined
24 Oct 2007
Posts
35
Hi all, I think I am ready to push the start button and fire up a new build but I am an utter noob and this is my first ever build. So I've got a few questions. I am trying to connect up the front panel leads on a Antec P182 SE to the front panel header socket on a Gigabyte X38-DQ6 mobo and I'm a little confused with the positive and negatives [which way up the leads connect]. I can see in the Gigabyte manual which is positive and negative on the motherboard but the leads from the P182 SE do not say which is which. Any ideas? I have connected them with the labels RESET SW, POWER SW etc facing downwards. Is this correct? Do I need to worry? Also, I have fitted a SATA hardrive and DVD drive, do I need to worry which SATA sockets I use on the mobo? Do I use any of the six orange SATA sockets? Now the really noob question! I am using a Corsair HX620W, does it matter which of the five modular sockets I use to connect hardrive, DVD drive plus the three fans on the Antec P182 SE? I am presuming they are all 12v molex so it doesn't matter (?). Thanks in advance.

Porky:confused:
 
woo lot's of questions! You don't seem that comfortable with PC building.

The rule is that if any power connection fits, then it's in the right place. You don't have to worry about 12v 5v and 3.3v connections..

Generally, it doesn't matter which SATA socket you use but it's best to install them in sequential order.. ie connect drive 1 to SATA 1 etc

The front panel leads just need to be on the correct pins regardless of orientation. Make sure you read the motherboard manual to find out what connector goes on what pin.

Welcome to the forums btw :)
 
Front I/O / USB / Audio wires for the front of the case do have a correct orientation for ATX and Reset Switch and the LED's for HDD activity.

Front USB will only plug in one way (if it uses an all in one connector) so that should be straight forward. As for ATX Switch, reset and LED lights they just won't work if they're connected wrong so it won't cause no problems if you get them the wrong way around (will just be a case of swapping them around).

SATA is provided by the southbridge of the motherboard, which for your board will be Intel's ICH9(R) controller (might be 10, not sure which one is paired with X38).

I'm not sure about the Gigabyte boards, but most high end boards have a 3rd party controller from the likes of promise and silicone image which just allow users the ability to add more drives and they perform worse than the south bridges offering usually.

So find out which ports belong to the southbridge and use those.
 
Its fine if you put the Power SW etc... on the wrong way around, as all that will happen is it wont switch on, or the light for your Hard Drive will not work, so all you have to do is swap them around, wont do any damage. :)
 
Thanks Admiral Huddy, Mekrel and LoadsaMoney, i am using pc8500 reaper on this first new build, so not sure if i need to change ram volts when i first power up [in bios] or after i install win XP. Sorry about these noob questions but everyones gotta learn sometime.
 
With regards to the front panel lights.

I believe the colour wire is the positive one. Trying to remember and am not at my PC, but I think each consists of a plain wire and a coloured one. The manual mentions this when refering to the Power LED one.
 
Thanks MilanoChris, but me being utter noob to this i still dont understand. Do i press start, then delete, go into bios and ram volts first or do i attempt to install Win XP first, then adjust ram volts. I think i am all ready and about to press start button on this-E6850, AF7 Pro, AS5, GA-X38-DQ6, pc8500 reapers, 8800GT, P182 SE, HX620w, Samsung 500gb Sata hd, sata op. drive and WinXP. Slightly pooping myself here that i might blow something up.Took me a year to save the money for new gaming build,[poor man]. Anyways which me luck guys, i am going for it.
 
Sounds a nuce build. Luck.. Do the volts first, you dont want it crashing half way thru an install
 
As long as everything power wise is connected and you haven't forced anything into the wrong sockets then you should be fine.

As for the RAM, it will be in advanced options or something. Take your time to familiarise yourself with the BIOS, most options should be pretty easy to understand.
 
GL nothing quite like bricking it on your first build :) I wouldn't worry to much tho as long as u have followed the instructions on the mobo manual all should be well :) god knows it took me all afternoon to build up the courage on my first rig then again i was 14 and that was a whole lot of paper round money :)
 
Big thanks again for your help guys. It WORKED:) no probs. Ram fired up and running @ 533mhz.Will read through overclocking posts on forum and try to get it up to 1066mhz or more.Crysis looks superb, all on high @ 1280. Went from 6600GT AGP TO 8800GT. What a card. Thanks MilanoChris, mark43, Ewanb75, Aero.
 
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