Ordered my rig-some basic building questions.

manic111

manic111

manic111

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Hi, Ive just ordered a shiny new rig (my first one ever!) with an E4500, Gigabyte P35C-DS3R and an X1950. Ive just got a couple of basic questions about building that I cant find the answers to in the stickied guide.

First, protecting against static; you need to touch something grounded-is this any bare metal, or must it be wired in? All the radiators in my house are painted, so these dont help. I heard that you can plug in the PSU and touch it (without turning it on)-does this work OK? I will be building it standing on a wood floor, on a wooden table-is this alright? I assume its better than carpet at least!

Second, do I need to do anything with the BIOS before installing Windows? I wont be OCing, at least not yet. Ive heard that some people recommend clearing the CMOS before doing anything else. How do I go about doing this? Will I need to change any RAM settings, voltage settings etc?

Third, is it obvious which power cables plug into which sockets? If not, I may find myself a little lost!

Finally, are there any other basic mistakes that new builders make? How can I avoid them?

Thanks a lot for your help, and for putting up with my constant questions over the last couple of weeks-Ive learnt a lot!
 
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Ive never had any problems with static i always assumed touching the case was good enough :p

There should be no need to do anything with the bios before installing windows unless something is not working.

There are not really any markings on the cables but if they dont fit then they are wrong, im sure you will work it out its not all that hard. Only things you may have trouble with is the power/reset switch that connects to the mobo.. they usually have things like "pwr sw" written on them so you know what they are and your mobo manual should have a diagram showing were these go + be printed on the mobo next to the relevant pins you connect them to.

As for mistakes im sure you will make some but not to be concerned, make sure you dont rush it in excitement.. and dont scream if it doed not work when you first go to turn it on :D it will probably be something simple, just post here with any problems you have and im sure you will get some help.
 
Static wise, you shouldnt worry too much, but be aware of what can happen. Basically, the problem is if you touch a chip, with an electric charge, its discharged into the chip, which can kill it. You wont feel it but it can be a lot of volts in a very short time. Easiest way to solve this is, touch a radiator before you begin.

The PSU trick is, AFAIK, stick the PSU into your case, and plug it in. The earth wire will make your entire case a big earthed metal object, and you can just touch that to earth yourself. Dont turn the electric on, just plug in.

BIOS wise, i would say no. Only do something to the BIOS if you have trouble doing everything else. It should work out of the box. Should be automatic settings for voltages etc. You should set the system clock etc and make sure your drives appear that youve connected.

Power cables should be obvious, but this links to new builder mistakes. Follow the motherboard manual. It should explain everything you need to do and its the heart of your computer. Dont forget to put the motherboard spacers in, the bits that go into the case screws before you sit your motherboard on top. You may also find fitting the CPU cooler before putting the motherboard in the case is a good idea, but ive never done this.

Lastly never put the side of the case on before the first boot. Its just bad luck. :p
 
Install the heatsink with the board outside the case.
Put the hard drives and everything in before the board.
 
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