I pick it up tonight. Any assembly tips would be appreciated.
Processor : AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ w/ 2x512K Cache
CPU Heatsink / Fan : Thermalright XP-120 Aluminum Heatsink for K8 / P4-478
Motherboards : Asus A8N-SLI Premium w/ DualDDR400, 7.1 Audio, Dual GB Lan, 2 x PCI-E x16 SLI, Cool-Pipe
Memory : existing 2Gb PC2700
Case : Antec P180 Advanced Super Mid Tower
Power Supplies : Antec TruePower 2.0 430W
Hard Drive : existing Seagate 300Gb SATA w/ NCQ
Optical Drive : existing BenQ DVD+/-R DL burner
Video Cards : eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, VIVO
Monitor 1 : existing Hansol 19" CRT
Monitor 2 : existing Portrait mode LG 17" LCD
Any assembly tips?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
-
dukla2000
- *Lifetime Patron*
- Posts: 1465
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 12:27 pm
- Location: Reading.England.EU
1) Unpack the mobo and scrutinise it carefully. In particular verify any jumpers are on default settings. Mount CPU & hsf to check how it all fits and hsf doesnt snag surrounding components etc. Remove hsf & CPU. Note down all CPU & mobo specs, Revisions, markings, etc.
2) Mount in case with all screws very loose. Slot in the vid card and possibly 1 (bottom slot - even if that is not where it will be eventually) PCI. THEN tighten the mobo screws. (This is to try get alignment of mobo in case correct).
3) Remove the PCI card, plug in ONLY minimal memory, CPU & hsf, keyboard & PSU and try boot to BIOS. Select BIOS defaults, reboot to BIOS. Go to BIOS environment screen and watch it for 10 minutes to see all is as expected (in particular CPU temp under control - hsf actually having some effect!)
4) If all is well, add 1 component at a time and reboot to BIOS to check all is as expected. When you have a critical mass of components added then worry about any OS & other software.
2) Mount in case with all screws very loose. Slot in the vid card and possibly 1 (bottom slot - even if that is not where it will be eventually) PCI. THEN tighten the mobo screws. (This is to try get alignment of mobo in case correct).
3) Remove the PCI card, plug in ONLY minimal memory, CPU & hsf, keyboard & PSU and try boot to BIOS. Select BIOS defaults, reboot to BIOS. Go to BIOS environment screen and watch it for 10 minutes to see all is as expected (in particular CPU temp under control - hsf actually having some effect!)
4) If all is well, add 1 component at a time and reboot to BIOS to check all is as expected. When you have a critical mass of components added then worry about any OS & other software.
Well, this reply is probably not very popular, but here goes...
After I finish looking at all the nice packages, I usually unpack the motherboard to get the manual. Then I browse through it to see if there are any particular things to be aware of before mouting CPU, cooler, RAM etc.
Yeah I know it sounds boring and your fingers are itching to get it going, but you might miss some important stuff. Actually you could probably download a copy of the manual before getting your stuff. This way you're prepared.
Good luck!
After I finish looking at all the nice packages, I usually unpack the motherboard to get the manual. Then I browse through it to see if there are any particular things to be aware of before mouting CPU, cooler, RAM etc.
Yeah I know it sounds boring and your fingers are itching to get it going, but you might miss some important stuff. Actually you could probably download a copy of the manual before getting your stuff. This way you're prepared.
Good luck!
heh. Thanks for all the tips. Assembly went well, though I took about 2.5 hours all told, making sure I covered everything.
Of course, the first thing I do after that? Pooch my NTFS partition by booting off a pre-SP1 WinXP disk. <sigh>
Spent all today backing up my data. In a couple hours I'll wipe the drive and actually get Windows on there. Then maybe I'll see what this powerhouse can do.
Of course, the first thing I do after that? Pooch my NTFS partition by booting off a pre-SP1 WinXP disk. <sigh>
Spent all today backing up my data. In a couple hours I'll wipe the drive and actually get Windows on there. Then maybe I'll see what this powerhouse can do.
Wow, it acutally worked when you first powered it up? That's never happened for me. Always something wrong with the machines I build. Jumper misplaced, forgot to hook up something, etc. It might be because I don't follow any of the suggestions mentioned here. In fact, I probably break several of these suggestions with each computer I build 
.
I'm a sloppy builder: I ignore the manual until just before power up and use it just to check jumpers and RAM positioning; I try to clear enough space, but it never seems to be enough; I do use magnetic screwdrivers if I can't find any non-magnetic ones (but I avoid using them on the mobo, I'd rather screw those in loosely by hand); and what's that about a wriststrap or mat? For grounding, I usually just touch something metal and avoid moving too much over the carpet.
.I'm a sloppy builder: I ignore the manual until just before power up and use it just to check jumpers and RAM positioning; I try to clear enough space, but it never seems to be enough; I do use magnetic screwdrivers if I can't find any non-magnetic ones (but I avoid using them on the mobo, I'd rather screw those in loosely by hand); and what's that about a wriststrap or mat? For grounding, I usually just touch something metal and avoid moving too much over the carpet.
This just made my day:
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODcxLDk=
Effectively that's what I ended up with, but their price tag is more than double mine. And look at those ratings.
PS: There was one change to the specs posted. I went with a NeoPower 480W instead.
http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODcxLDk=
Effectively that's what I ended up with, but their price tag is more than double mine. And look at those ratings.
PS: There was one change to the specs posted. I went with a NeoPower 480W instead.