Rebuilding PC after 3 months in storage. Any potential pitfalls I should be aware of??

peanutismint

peanutismint

peanutismint

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I recently moved from the UK to the USA and managed to take all of my PC components (minus the PSU and case) with me in my suitcase. They have been in the cupboard in jiffy bags (because I couldn’t find antistatic bags!) since I got here, and I recently managed to get ahold of a new case and 650W PSU to put it back together again.

I am fully expecting everything to be in the same condition as it was in when I packed it, so hopefully it should just be a case of putting all the pieces together again and turning it on… But I just wondered first whether I should be made aware of any potential issues? Or example, I didn’t remove the CPU heatsink or fan, so is there any chance the thermal paste might have dried out during this time? Should I try to pick up some more and replace it??

Also, the PSU I bought was second-hand but looks to be in great condition; it’s made by Antech, but I wonder whether there is any point to me testing it with a multimeter or something first before plugging my components in? Or should I just plug it in first and try things in increasingly important order, e.g. fans first, then motherboard with CPU, then GPU/RAM and so on....?

Anything else people could give advice on?
 
Plec said:
That depends on how long it's actually been on the CPU altogether, since build? If it's been over 5 years, i would take the opportunity, while it's easy to do, to reapply some fresh TIM.


Model?


What is your complete spec?
Click to expand...

Thanks; it's a good 7-8 years old now so maybe some new paste wouldn't hurt, maybe even a decent CPU fan as I'm still using the stock Intel one it came with...

Why do you want to know the PSU model/specs? The model of Antec PSU shouldn't really matter, neither should the spec; I'm not asking for upgrade tips, simply wondering what 'best practice' procedures I should think of implementing to make sure it re-builds safely. If you're really curious the specs are right there in my sig :-)

Holst1981 said:
I would boot it outside of the case to check it posts.

If you have a problem you won't waste time putting it in the case and will find troubleshooting easier.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Good idea; what's the safest way of booting it outside of the case? Can I just put the motherboard/hard drives on non-conductive surface like cardboard or something?
 
Ah I see, thanks for thinking of that. Yeah my board is (as you can see from my sig) reasonably old so does't have a power button, but I can probably just jump them, or stretch my new case's front panel lead to reach.

I don't have the PSU with me right now but I just know it's an Antec and 650W; guess at the least I could use a multimeter to test the outlets but I'd need to read up on how to do that as I don't quite know which rails I should be testing/what voltages to look for etc.
 
Hahah yes it is indeed. It seems to work; I bought a second hand case from a Goodwill store that had an MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming motherboard in it and altho I don't have a compatible CPU to test it it seemed to boot that up fine (well not boot but you know, lights came on, etc).

Wonder if this motherboard is worth anything second hand.....
 
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