Installing MoBos, etc

Post by **TheCatt** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 7:37 pm

If anyone has good links on putting a PC together from scratch, would appreciate them. Decided to get it a shot.

71-1085092892 · Post by **71-1085092892** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 8:48 pm

It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Scariest thing for me was not knowing how to set the MB jumpers... but in both ASUS mb's I've installed, the jumpers were, after much research and phone tech support with Cakedaddy, already set where I wanted them.

Now let me tell you about making sure your MB is insulated from the metal on your case...

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 2:17 am

I don't know of any good sites. Watched someone do it once and learned "That's no big deal". Just make sure your jumpers are set correctly.

Actually, 99% chance it will be done in bios. I've only built AMD machines, and AMD tells you what settings you should use for each CPU. Settings that are important are:

Voltage
and the speed settings (don't remember the exact name)

Just make sure that stuff is correct, and you are good to go. If you get them wrong, you'll either be over clocked, or underclocked. Overclocked, make sure you have a good fan (much better than the one AMD includes). Underclocked, no big deal. Over/Under voltage = dangerous.

Come to think about it, I'd give you a 90% chance that any board you buy now will autodetect proper settings.

Then it's just plugging the hard drive in, etc. I'm assuming you've done that stuff before. Once it's up and running, make sure you load any patches for your board. You can flash the bios if needed. But there should also be board specific drivers you'll load. I've never flashed my own boards because if for any reason the flash doesn't take, ends premature, etc, the board is dead and has to be returned. And loading board OS drivers isn't THAT big of a deal either. You just won't get top performance till you do.

Lastly, I've fried a CPU by putting the fan on backwards. Make SURE you have a good fan, and you put it on right.

Upon looking, it was a really dumb move on my part. Follow instructions (which I didn't cause 'how hard can it be'). Once you look at their pictures, it's obvious. But to this day, I still boot, go into BIOS and check 'Hardware Health' to see what the temp is. If it's above 75, shut down immediately and figure out what you did wrong on the fan.

Those are the horror stories. Take your time, read the manual, and all will be well.

Post by **TheCatt** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 9:26 am

Well, I gave it a shot, using random websites and such (none were great enough to remember/post).

The one curious issue I had was my CPU temp in BIOS kept reporting abnormally large temps (would start pretty low, then climb over 90/100, about a degree per second). The first time I saw it get above 70, I turned the thing off, undid the CPU fan, and touched the CPU. No way in hell it was over 35 degrees (all temps in Celsius). Put fan back on, did it again, going up to 110C. Took fan off again, CPU was still cool. Turned fan around... suddenly, temps are in the 32-34C range.

I didn't realize that the fan had to go a specific way, not indicated from the directions, and it fit either way. So far everything else is going well, and the mobo install was a lot easier than I had anticipated. Only issue left is installing the OS/Partitioning drives.

Oh, and I discovered that ATA-33 cables apparently exist. Something about 40-wire vs 80-wire ATA cables, or some such. Apparently ATA-66/100/133 use an 80-wire cable. Guess who had spare 40's?

Oh well, quickly rectified later today.

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:22 pm

Cakedaddy wrote:Lastly, I've fried a CPU by putting the fan on backwards. Make SURE you have a good fan, and you put it on right. Upon looking, it was a really dumb move on my part. Follow instructions (which I didn't cause 'how hard can it be'). Once you look at their pictures, it's obvious.

Fan install

Edited By Cakedaddy on 1087078997

Post by **TheCatt** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 11:20 pm

Cakedaddy wrote:
Cakedaddy wrote:Lastly, I've fried a CPU by putting the fan on backwards. Make SURE you have a good fan, and you put it on right. Upon looking, it was a really dumb move on my part. Follow instructions (which I didn't cause 'how hard can it be'). Once you look at their pictures, it's obvious.

Fan install

That's roughly 100 times better than the document I got with my chip/fan.

Steps 7/13 had no equivalent in my instructions. I think I originally did #14.

Thanks! That link will no doubt come in handy when I build another.

mbilderback · Post by **mbilderback** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 12:49 pm

Watch your cabling, I've pinched a cable before going to the front of the case and the cable overheated and burnt through the casing. No biggie, all it did was fry the VLB part of one expansion slot. That should date that PC build.