Computer build 2, a.k.a. Mollie, is finished. Jonathan is currently working on his bookmarks, and over the weekend will be installing word programs and video games. Other than the few glitches I mentioned in the previous post it was mostly smooth sailing. I navigated the BIOS system on my own this time, really only needing to change the date and time. Installed the OS, however, I didn't partition the hard drive, don't know how I got around that but windows did its thing and life went on. The most time consuming issue was connecting to the internet. Installed an ASUS Wireless PCI-Express Adapter, popped in the CD to load the drivers only to have the card read the security settings of the network wrong. After a good stretch of time getting progressively more frustrated at why it wouldn't work, turns out the drivers for the card compatible with Windows 7 are separate from all other drivers and needed to be manually installed. Go figure. All is well though. You know, if I had any interest in learning the technical skills behind doing this it wouldn't be a bad career.
Some other notes:
Working with a mid-tower versus the full from my first build wasn't as cumbersome as I feared it would be. The cable management isn't nearly as pretty, but until builds go cable-less I don't know how they could be. I do prefer the screw out plates instead of snap off ones. I like the idea that I can put it back if I rearrange things, instead of either having to fit items to the slots already made, or 1) dealing with holes in my case 2) just buying a new case.
I do need to add a few things to remember on the list for new egg: keyboard, dvd/cd drive, and... nope that's it. I'm a fan of wired keyboards, and it seems that stores are moving towards wireless, so what you're left with is possibly one or two choices and you're settling either way. Yes, buying a cheep keyboard will keep the price of your computer build down, but what's the point of having a custom PC when using the keyboard (you know, the thing that you'll actually be touching and using every day, no mater how else you use your PC) is a pain. Online, there are more options, at least for those who prefer wired. Some goes for a dvd/cd drive. Three options at BestBuy. Two HP 24x one with lightscribe and the other without and One LG (I think) 22x with a label writing program I've never heard of. There has to be better, faster options for what I want it to do, and I will make sure to look into that the next time I'm on NewEgg assembling a shopping cart. I thought to put a mouse on the list, but I like those wireless. I also don't like how loud some of them click, and my definition of loud may not be the same as a reviewers, I also like the scroll wheel to click and not roll smooth like the one for my laptop does (buyers remorse for that, serves me right for buying something pretty.) Then there's the monitor. Could probably get a better price on-line, even after shipping, but nothing beats seeing it in person. It's one thing to read the the screen is 20 inches and another to look at one that is 20 inches. That and picture quality, the on-line picture make them all look the same, when side by side they are nothing alike. Lastly, if a monitor gets delivered there is no knowing what happens to it from the time it's dropped off to the time you get home and open the box. I like the security (and sole responsibility) of knowing that, unless I drop it on the way home from the store, it will be in pristine condition or it's the retailers fault. Also, quicker turn around if you just need to drive back to the store to replace it.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Some tips for next time
So I'm not quit finished with my second build but I needed to take a step away and do something else. Blogging is the answer. As I'm going at my second attempt to build a PC I've done a few things a bit backwards. So in order to prevent that from happening again I'm going to list the things I (or anyone) should remeber to do, or not, in order for the next build to go even smoother.
1) So I don't have to look back through months, or even years, of facebook statuses to find the answer to: What are the basic items I should see work first before I put the whole thing together and realize it's a fail?
-Motherboard
-CPU
-RAM
-Power Supply
Hook these items up, connect to the power button on the case and see if they work. (The fans will start spinning and the post lights will come on.) At this point you have a smaller window of what possibly could be wrong if say the lights don't come on, or a fan doesn't work, or there's no power period.
2) The motherboard comes with the screen for all the different plugs on the back of a CPU. Snap that baby into place first. It's difficult, if not impossible, to do while the motherboard is screwed down.
3) Figure out where your putting your hardware and snap out the appropriate brackets, again, before you put the motherboard in.
Today I've screwed and unscrewed the motherboard three times 'cause I keep forgetting these things. Hopefully this post will keep that from happening in the future.
1) So I don't have to look back through months, or even years, of facebook statuses to find the answer to: What are the basic items I should see work first before I put the whole thing together and realize it's a fail?
-Motherboard
-CPU
-RAM
-Power Supply
Hook these items up, connect to the power button on the case and see if they work. (The fans will start spinning and the post lights will come on.) At this point you have a smaller window of what possibly could be wrong if say the lights don't come on, or a fan doesn't work, or there's no power period.
2) The motherboard comes with the screen for all the different plugs on the back of a CPU. Snap that baby into place first. It's difficult, if not impossible, to do while the motherboard is screwed down.
3) Figure out where your putting your hardware and snap out the appropriate brackets, again, before you put the motherboard in.
Today I've screwed and unscrewed the motherboard three times 'cause I keep forgetting these things. Hopefully this post will keep that from happening in the future.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Well!
Well isn't round two just a lucky little >*&$!? For starters I didn't have to wait for any items to be in stock or pick new items to replace out of stock items I didn't want to wait for. Second, the shipping came to a whole $1.99 for everything. Everything! Thirdly, lastly, it all shipped yesterday. Sunday, for crying out loud! I'm a bit jealous, if you haven't noticed, but still so excited. Hope that it arrives before Thursday and that there's enough time between when it gets here and Thursday night to go pick it up. Friday will be my last day off for the forseable future, and you know what I want to do that day? That's right, build a computer :)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Ordered Round 2
So, computer building round two is under way. All the parts have been ordered, again minus monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Though, this round a wireless adapter was added. We will see how the install on that works, versus the little USB plug I have on mine (which works just fine when you forget to buy the internal card and find that best buy doesn't carry them, and you're too impatient to wait to order one.)
I picked out another COOL MASTER case, but a mid size this time around instead of the full tower I have. Stuck with Gigabyte for the mother board and Intel for the CPU, both are a slight upgrade from my first build. Also, again Western Digital for the hard drive, again an upgrade, half a terabyte larger and a 2k increase on RPM. Stuck with the same graphics card. Mine does so beautifully, didn't find anything that was worth the price increase.
Hopefully this time around I'll have better luck getting the thing to work the first time. However, I will be without help when it comes to loading the Operating System. (Had a little more help then I wanted the last time and that might come to bite me the second time around.)
I'm using the power supply I had originally bought for my first build. I never sent it back so why let it go to waste, right?
My only concern at the moment is that the case only comes with one fan. No big deal, because the power supply came with an extra one. It's just one more thing that I have to install that I haven't before.
Anyways, if all goes smooth I'm hoping to be building by Friday. In other words, I need to get a roll on my homework so that I don't get pre-occupied with something more interesting next week.
I picked out another COOL MASTER case, but a mid size this time around instead of the full tower I have. Stuck with Gigabyte for the mother board and Intel for the CPU, both are a slight upgrade from my first build. Also, again Western Digital for the hard drive, again an upgrade, half a terabyte larger and a 2k increase on RPM. Stuck with the same graphics card. Mine does so beautifully, didn't find anything that was worth the price increase.
Hopefully this time around I'll have better luck getting the thing to work the first time. However, I will be without help when it comes to loading the Operating System. (Had a little more help then I wanted the last time and that might come to bite me the second time around.)
I'm using the power supply I had originally bought for my first build. I never sent it back so why let it go to waste, right?
My only concern at the moment is that the case only comes with one fan. No big deal, because the power supply came with an extra one. It's just one more thing that I have to install that I haven't before.
Anyways, if all goes smooth I'm hoping to be building by Friday. In other words, I need to get a roll on my homework so that I don't get pre-occupied with something more interesting next week.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Another One!
So, maybe, in the not to distant future, I will be building my second computer. Not actually mine, because if I do, it will be someone elses. Sad thing, for me not them, is I could build almost the exact some computer I built myself for $200 less even more with a smaller case. It's kind of exciting to know it might not be years in between my first and second build after all. Well, maybe.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Almost two months old
All of my parts in their boxed glory.
Yes, that is a Barbie doll. Barbie dolls are 12 inches in height for all of you visual types. Makes any doll house I've had for her look tiny in comparison.
The front of my beautiful, beautiful case.
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It has a little sliding cover to protect my buttons. When reading the description on NewEgg, it went on about friends coming over and sitting on your computer and accidentally shutting it off. It was funny. Anyone want to sit on my computer be aware I will either slap you or take you by your ear and kick you out... just warnin' ya.
I will be posting more pictures, but at this point in time the internet isn't cooperating with my downloading, so you'll have to come back for more at another time.
Monday, April 18, 2011
IT IS ALIVE!!!!
So guess what? It’s done. My first computer build was a success. Let’s take a few steps back though. As of yesterday, I was lost. I couldn’t get the thing to stay on for the life of me. After talking to a few people and finding the same complaints on-line I stumbled upon the solution. Now, I really don’t want to admit what I did wrong, it is very much a palm-to-the-forehead kind of moment, but I’ll let you know anyhow.
There are two cables that run form your power supply that have to get plugged into the motherboard. Not one. So you first have your main connecter. In my case a 24-pin connector. That one was easy enough. My problem was with the 8-pin connector that also needed to be attached. With the first PSU that I had, I don’t remember seeing an 8-pin connector just two PCI-E connecters which where each a set of 6-pin and 2-pin (making eight). The two pin part wasn’t compatible with my motherboard so I only plugged in the 6-pin part. Once it didn’t work, I bought the new PSU and plugged it in the same way... a little better results but still not working right. Plugged my problem into Google search and I came across a similar situation. (Sadly, because I’m on the new computer I have no history to link to the sight I found.) Whatever I read made something click. I went back to my mess of electronics and stared for a moment, looked at the cords spilling out of the PSU and found an 8-pin connector. Plugged it in. And it ran! (Ran even better once I remembered to stick the RAM back in.)
At this point in time, I had arranged for back up to come and double check my work, so I didn’t move forward, though I knew what to do next. Having the back up was useful. He answered some questions I had. Mostly about the fans, and how they plug in. They could all be strung together like Christmas lights and attached to the PSU or the motherboard, or you could attach each of them separately to the motherboard or the PSU. Which is good because as of right now I have four fans in my case not including the one on the heatsink or the graphics card. The motherboard only has three fan connections (that’s not the CPU fan).
Some “fun” facts:
Right now I have four programs on my computer. And I actually know what each of them are and why they are there.
1.Coral WordPerfect Office - iFIlter 64 Bit
2. Microsoft Security Essentials
3. Mozilla Firefox 4.0
4. Word Perfect Office X5
My ratings (1.0-7.9):
Processor: 7.5
Memory (RAM): 7.5
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
Primary hard disk: 5.9
Base Score: 5.9
Much better then the 2.5 I was getting on my laptop because of my graphics.
This computer, with all six fans running is ridiculously quiet. Honestly the exhaust fan in the bathroom, with the door closed, is still louder then my computer and I’m not two feet away.
I will be back in the next few days with updates on the different programs I’m installing and the pictures that I’ve promised, because I have them.
There are two cables that run form your power supply that have to get plugged into the motherboard. Not one. So you first have your main connecter. In my case a 24-pin connector. That one was easy enough. My problem was with the 8-pin connector that also needed to be attached. With the first PSU that I had, I don’t remember seeing an 8-pin connector just two PCI-E connecters which where each a set of 6-pin and 2-pin (making eight). The two pin part wasn’t compatible with my motherboard so I only plugged in the 6-pin part. Once it didn’t work, I bought the new PSU and plugged it in the same way... a little better results but still not working right. Plugged my problem into Google search and I came across a similar situation. (Sadly, because I’m on the new computer I have no history to link to the sight I found.) Whatever I read made something click. I went back to my mess of electronics and stared for a moment, looked at the cords spilling out of the PSU and found an 8-pin connector. Plugged it in. And it ran! (Ran even better once I remembered to stick the RAM back in.)
At this point in time, I had arranged for back up to come and double check my work, so I didn’t move forward, though I knew what to do next. Having the back up was useful. He answered some questions I had. Mostly about the fans, and how they plug in. They could all be strung together like Christmas lights and attached to the PSU or the motherboard, or you could attach each of them separately to the motherboard or the PSU. Which is good because as of right now I have four fans in my case not including the one on the heatsink or the graphics card. The motherboard only has three fan connections (that’s not the CPU fan).
Some “fun” facts:
Right now I have four programs on my computer. And I actually know what each of them are and why they are there.
1.Coral WordPerfect Office - iFIlter 64 Bit
2. Microsoft Security Essentials
3. Mozilla Firefox 4.0
4. Word Perfect Office X5
My ratings (1.0-7.9):
Processor: 7.5
Memory (RAM): 7.5
Graphics: 6.7
Gaming Graphics: 6.7
Primary hard disk: 5.9
Base Score: 5.9
Much better then the 2.5 I was getting on my laptop because of my graphics.
This computer, with all six fans running is ridiculously quiet. Honestly the exhaust fan in the bathroom, with the door closed, is still louder then my computer and I’m not two feet away.
I will be back in the next few days with updates on the different programs I’m installing and the pictures that I’ve promised, because I have them.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thanks to Peter and a good nights sleep... sort of
Again with my issues from yesterday.
The boyfriend came home last night and wanted to be nosy. He has less skills then I do, but the two of managed to figure out how to get the top of the case off. We were able to pull apart a few things to get to the power switch, I don’t think this is my problem anymore.
Which is a plus, because I love the case... remember two posts back... and I wouldn’t want to have to ship it out and wait for a new one... case remember, it’s huge! Once I get the pictures up. I used Barbie to demonstrate the size. It makes her dream house look like the size of a shoe box.
Anyways, I was done looking at it for the night. Had some dinner, watched a little Le Femme Nikita, and got some sleep. Of course I dreamt about fixing my computer. Not that the dream helped at all once I woke up this morning.
Started up my make shift computer (I currently have a monitor, speakers and keyboard attached to my laptop that’s being iffy in the visual department.) Went of to my monstrosity in the dinning room and started putting the cover back on. Plugged it in, and powered it up... hoping I was going to be lucky and have giggled the right thing in the right place... nothing. Of course, because technology doesn’t run on luck or faith or whatever you call it. Came back to my ‘working’ computer to catch up on the daily facebook. This is what I find waiting for me:
PETER - rookie. take the thing out. Never put it all together unless you are certain of the outcomes. what it takes for a successful POST, requires PSU, Mobo, CPU, RAM, and optional Video display. Have it pulled and test them in barebone state, then go from there. Watch out that 4pin cpu cord
So I did just that. I unplugged everything but the Power Supply Unit (PSU), Motherboard (Mobo), Central Possessing Unit (CPU), and the Random Access Memory (RAM). Even pulled out the graphics card. Plugged it in, and hit the power switch...
I was able to get power to everything for a second or two before it died, however, it worked like this every time I hit the power button, and not just the once or twice like before. What does this mean? No idea... yet:)
Notes: My last post I mention that the new PSU had a reset button; it did not. The button controlled the led on the PSU fan. I assumed (insert that saying about what happens when you ass-u-me) that because after pressing it, I got some action, that it was a reset button. I did some reading and felt like an... well, you know.
The boyfriend came home last night and wanted to be nosy. He has less skills then I do, but the two of managed to figure out how to get the top of the case off. We were able to pull apart a few things to get to the power switch, I don’t think this is my problem anymore.
Which is a plus, because I love the case... remember two posts back... and I wouldn’t want to have to ship it out and wait for a new one... case remember, it’s huge! Once I get the pictures up. I used Barbie to demonstrate the size. It makes her dream house look like the size of a shoe box.
Anyways, I was done looking at it for the night. Had some dinner, watched a little Le Femme Nikita, and got some sleep. Of course I dreamt about fixing my computer. Not that the dream helped at all once I woke up this morning.
Started up my make shift computer (I currently have a monitor, speakers and keyboard attached to my laptop that’s being iffy in the visual department.) Went of to my monstrosity in the dinning room and started putting the cover back on. Plugged it in, and powered it up... hoping I was going to be lucky and have giggled the right thing in the right place... nothing. Of course, because technology doesn’t run on luck or faith or whatever you call it. Came back to my ‘working’ computer to catch up on the daily facebook. This is what I find waiting for me:
PETER - rookie. take the thing out. Never put it all together unless you are certain of the outcomes. what it takes for a successful POST, requires PSU, Mobo, CPU, RAM, and optional Video display. Have it pulled and test them in barebone state, then go from there. Watch out that 4pin cpu cord
So I did just that. I unplugged everything but the Power Supply Unit (PSU), Motherboard (Mobo), Central Possessing Unit (CPU), and the Random Access Memory (RAM). Even pulled out the graphics card. Plugged it in, and hit the power switch...
I was able to get power to everything for a second or two before it died, however, it worked like this every time I hit the power button, and not just the once or twice like before. What does this mean? No idea... yet:)
Notes: My last post I mention that the new PSU had a reset button; it did not. The button controlled the led on the PSU fan. I assumed (insert that saying about what happens when you ass-u-me) that because after pressing it, I got some action, that it was a reset button. I did some reading and felt like an... well, you know.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
WTF do I do now?
Woke up this morning terrified at the task that laid before me, to build my own PC. Yep, that’s right, all the excitement had drained from my system and the reality of the job set in. None-the-less, I started opening boxes and reading manuals. Installing the CPU was the worst part (at first). I felt like I was going to crack the motherboard... but I didn’t. Turned out I didn’t need thermal compound because the heat sink was already prepared with some. Installed the memory, probably the easiest thing I did. Installed the motherboard to the case, followed by the power supply. Had to remove the motherboard when I realized that I forgot the faceplate for all the connectors. Got it back in. Installed the hard drive and the cd/dvd drive. Connected everything. Plugged it in, turned on the power supply and then hit the power button. The fans started for a few seconds and then failed. Pressed the power button again, again the fans started and died. Thought the third time might be a charm... I got nothing, the fans didn’t even start. Double checked all my connections. Made sure that the outlet I was using was receiving power. Tried again nothing. Tried looking on line for thoughts... couldn’t find anything useful.
Thought about quitting. Instead, decided I was hungry and got some Culvers. Went to Best Buy and bought a new power supply unit. Uninstalled the first one, put in the new one. Reattached everything. Plugged it in, turned it on, hit the power button. Nothing. Pushed in the reset button on the power supply (the new one came with it). Hit the power button... got a blue LED from my graphics card fan for half a moment and then nothing again.
Seeing as how this is my first computer build, I have no idea how to trouble shoot this issue. It is possible that the power button or the connector on the case is faulty, then again, it could be an issue with the motherboard. So now I have to decide what to do. Do I send back the motherboard or the case?
Thought about quitting. Instead, decided I was hungry and got some Culvers. Went to Best Buy and bought a new power supply unit. Uninstalled the first one, put in the new one. Reattached everything. Plugged it in, turned it on, hit the power button. Nothing. Pushed in the reset button on the power supply (the new one came with it). Hit the power button... got a blue LED from my graphics card fan for half a moment and then nothing again.
Seeing as how this is my first computer build, I have no idea how to trouble shoot this issue. It is possible that the power button or the connector on the case is faulty, then again, it could be an issue with the motherboard. So now I have to decide what to do. Do I send back the motherboard or the case?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I'm in Love
Wholly Balls!!!!!
If I’d have known the absolute love I could feel for inanimate objects I would have done this so long ago. Seriously, no thing alive could look as sexy as my full ATX case from HAF does. I want to stroke it, and pet it. Can’t wait to fill it with my love... I mean components.
So everything came yesterday (Monday), not bad for ordering it Friday, and that was standard shipping through UPS. Opened everything up today just to make sure nothing looked damaged, and it all looks pristine. I have an itch so bad to get started but with homework, class, and work, I’m tied up until Saturday and I want this to have my full, undivided, attention.
So here’s what you have to look forward to:
Pictures. Tons of them. You will see the box each item came in, multiple views of each item, and everything included with each item, right down to instruction manuals and the stickers. From there I’ll make sure there are pictures after each single item is installed, so you can see the process step-by-step. These I will probably put in posts pertaining to their own installation, and described what was done, any issues that were had and resolutions. Going to try to make this as in depth as possible.
Note: I assumed that the CPU would come with thermal paste, it does not, so make sure you get this.
If I’d have known the absolute love I could feel for inanimate objects I would have done this so long ago. Seriously, no thing alive could look as sexy as my full ATX case from HAF does. I want to stroke it, and pet it. Can’t wait to fill it with my love... I mean components.
So everything came yesterday (Monday), not bad for ordering it Friday, and that was standard shipping through UPS. Opened everything up today just to make sure nothing looked damaged, and it all looks pristine. I have an itch so bad to get started but with homework, class, and work, I’m tied up until Saturday and I want this to have my full, undivided, attention.
So here’s what you have to look forward to:
Pictures. Tons of them. You will see the box each item came in, multiple views of each item, and everything included with each item, right down to instruction manuals and the stickers. From there I’ll make sure there are pictures after each single item is installed, so you can see the process step-by-step. These I will probably put in posts pertaining to their own installation, and described what was done, any issues that were had and resolutions. Going to try to make this as in depth as possible.
Note: I assumed that the CPU would come with thermal paste, it does not, so make sure you get this.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
No Turning Back
So, at this junction in time all I'm working with is a laptop. I use it for everything: facebook, flash-based video games, e-mail, school work including on-line classes (discussions, blogs, exams), paying bills, photoshop not to mention a photo album, a jukebox, movies and tv. In the last two days I've encountered problems showing the age and use out of my machine.
My screen saver goes back and forth between my programed "goodmorning" (in remembrance of a late co-worker) and "the screen saver can't run because it requires a newer video card or one compatible with Direct3D" My monitor has just stopped working. My system has frozen. Anyways, I was able to somehow get it up and going long enough to do a system restore and things seem to be working fine, but as I was saying before I use it for everything, and can't really afford for it to go to Silicon Heaven until I have a back up system that's mine.
I was really hoping to wait a bit before buying everything, give things some time for prices to come down, and just to double check things about ten more times before making any decisions. Well, I don't know if my laptop has time so I placed my order this morning. Now I may have mentioned this in a previous post, I know I groaned about it on facebook, but the original case and motherboard I had picked out had gone out of stock. I picked back ups, and even though my original picks just came back in stock within the last 48 hours, I've gotten attached to the back ups. So here's what I purchased today... so far:
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ENERMAX PRO82+ II EPR525AWT_II 525W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
There is no turning back, the parts are on their way. I hope this is the start of something very beautiful.
There are a few pieces missing. I'll be getting 8GB (2x4GB) of DDR3 SDRAM (to start) and Windows 7 Professional as my Operating System. I'm going with inexpensive speakers and a keyboard from logitech to save money because I'm more worried about picture quality then sound quality. Plus, it will be a nice upgrade in the future when I don't have to buy out of necessity. I've been looking at monitors at Best Buy and Office Depto, a decision I'll be making in the next week or so.
Looking forward to getting mail that's not a grocery flier or a credit card application.
My screen saver goes back and forth between my programed "goodmorning" (in remembrance of a late co-worker) and "the screen saver can't run because it requires a newer video card or one compatible with Direct3D" My monitor has just stopped working. My system has frozen. Anyways, I was able to somehow get it up and going long enough to do a system restore and things seem to be working fine, but as I was saying before I use it for everything, and can't really afford for it to go to Silicon Heaven until I have a back up system that's mine.
I was really hoping to wait a bit before buying everything, give things some time for prices to come down, and just to double check things about ten more times before making any decisions. Well, I don't know if my laptop has time so I placed my order this morning. Now I may have mentioned this in a previous post, I know I groaned about it on facebook, but the original case and motherboard I had picked out had gone out of stock. I picked back ups, and even though my original picks just came back in stock within the last 48 hours, I've gotten attached to the back ups. So here's what I purchased today... so far:
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ENERMAX PRO82+ II EPR525AWT_II 525W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
There is no turning back, the parts are on their way. I hope this is the start of something very beautiful.
There are a few pieces missing. I'll be getting 8GB (2x4GB) of DDR3 SDRAM (to start) and Windows 7 Professional as my Operating System. I'm going with inexpensive speakers and a keyboard from logitech to save money because I'm more worried about picture quality then sound quality. Plus, it will be a nice upgrade in the future when I don't have to buy out of necessity. I've been looking at monitors at Best Buy and Office Depto, a decision I'll be making in the next week or so.
Looking forward to getting mail that's not a grocery flier or a credit card application.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Purchasing?
So. Today is the last day of a deal by newegg.com. If you qualify for a Preferred Account you can get payments for 12 months with no interest. I want to say this is an annual deal, possibly to get through the buying slump that usually proceeds the Christmas holiday, possibly also, to encourage the buying of products that will soon be replaced by newer and possibly better versions, just don't quote me on that. So here is my dilemma. Do I wait, like a responsible person, to pay for everything with cash instead of adding another payment to my list of monthly bills even if it is a small list? Or, do I dive in head first, knowing full well that I'll pay it all off well before the 12 month dead line, thus not loosing any momentum on the build, and more quickly being able to get to play the games I've been itching for for months?
As of right now here are my decisions, at least the ones I'll be getting from new egg.
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
ENERMAX PRO82+ II EPR525AWT_II 525W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
I also have Windows 7 Pro in my 'shopping cart' but I think I'll see what I can get at Best Buy or Office Depto, maybe I'll be able to pick it up for a few dollars cheaper, even if it's just not paying for shipping and handling. I'm also getting my monitor from a store, looking online wont compare to seeing size and color in person. Other things I'll pick up in the store will be mouse, keyboard, speakers, and a CD/DVD drive. Not sure if I want to go all out right away and get something rewritable with lightscribe or save myself the dough because, one, it wont be my initial use for my build, and two, it will give me something to do after I've acquired some experience.
I'm expecting issues. Whether it be items damaged on arrival. Not enough plugs. A lack of compatibility. System errors or the such but this build is for more then having a gaming computer it's the experience of building it, fixing it, maintaining it.
I'll be back once I've made my decision. Then it's on to the joys of putting it all together.
As of right now here are my decisions, at least the ones I'll be getting from new egg.
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
ENERMAX PRO82+ II EPR525AWT_II 525W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
I also have Windows 7 Pro in my 'shopping cart' but I think I'll see what I can get at Best Buy or Office Depto, maybe I'll be able to pick it up for a few dollars cheaper, even if it's just not paying for shipping and handling. I'm also getting my monitor from a store, looking online wont compare to seeing size and color in person. Other things I'll pick up in the store will be mouse, keyboard, speakers, and a CD/DVD drive. Not sure if I want to go all out right away and get something rewritable with lightscribe or save myself the dough because, one, it wont be my initial use for my build, and two, it will give me something to do after I've acquired some experience.
I'm expecting issues. Whether it be items damaged on arrival. Not enough plugs. A lack of compatibility. System errors or the such but this build is for more then having a gaming computer it's the experience of building it, fixing it, maintaining it.
I'll be back once I've made my decision. Then it's on to the joys of putting it all together.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
What I'm Building For
This build will serve pretty much one function: playing video games. More specifically it will be able to run World of Warcraft (WoW), Entropia and Civilization 5 at the very least. Here’s what each game takes to run.
WoW (minimum):
- Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
- 1 GB or more of RAM
- NVIDIA® GeForce® FX or ATI Radeon™ 9500 video card or better
- 25.0 GB available HD space
- 4X DVD-ROM drive (Downloadable Installer also available)
- Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard/mouse
Entropia (high):
Internet Connection: ADSL or better
Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
Computer Processor: Intel Core duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Series or better
Computer Memory: 2048 MB RAM or more
Graphics Card (with latest drivers): NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Series or better / ATI Radeon 2900 series or better.
DirectX: Version 9.0c or later
Sound Device: Direct X compatible sound device
Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels
Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space
Civilization 5 (recommended):
- Operating System: Windows Vista SP2/ Windows 7
- Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
- DVD-ROM Drive: Required for disc-based installation
- Video: 512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better
- Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatibile sound card
- DirectX: DirectX version 11
I copied and pasted the system requirements from each of the websites that gave the most information, WoW as you’ve noticed, doesn’t label everything like the next two games, leaving you having to figure out what each item is. Not that it is difficult, but at a glace I can compare processors between Entropia and Civilization 5 where I have to spend an extra second finding it for Wow. Also, the WoW recommended requirements leave out a few things.
I’ll be looking to Civilization 5 as a base point seeing as it has higher recommended requirements then other two games, which will only make the gaming experience better all around.
WoW (minimum):
- Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
- 1 GB or more of RAM
- NVIDIA® GeForce® FX or ATI Radeon™ 9500 video card or better
- 25.0 GB available HD space
- 4X DVD-ROM drive (Downloadable Installer also available)
- Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard/mouse
Entropia (high):
Internet Connection: ADSL or better
Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7
Computer Processor: Intel Core duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Series or better
Computer Memory: 2048 MB RAM or more
Graphics Card (with latest drivers): NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Series or better / ATI Radeon 2900 series or better.
DirectX: Version 9.0c or later
Sound Device: Direct X compatible sound device
Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels
Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space
Civilization 5 (recommended):
- Operating System: Windows Vista SP2/ Windows 7
- Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
- DVD-ROM Drive: Required for disc-based installation
- Video: 512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better
- Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatibile sound card
- DirectX: DirectX version 11
I copied and pasted the system requirements from each of the websites that gave the most information, WoW as you’ve noticed, doesn’t label everything like the next two games, leaving you having to figure out what each item is. Not that it is difficult, but at a glace I can compare processors between Entropia and Civilization 5 where I have to spend an extra second finding it for Wow. Also, the WoW recommended requirements leave out a few things.
I’ll be looking to Civilization 5 as a base point seeing as it has higher recommended requirements then other two games, which will only make the gaming experience better all around.
Resources
Type 'Computer Build' into Google search. Go ahead. Doing that today I came up with 451,000,000 results. Damn that's a lot of results. However, it led me to one site that looked promising and then another.
First up is:
http://lifehacker.com/#!5151369/the-first+timers-guide-to-building-a-computer-from-scratch
This article spoke directly to me.It makes it clear that building will be no picnic, possibly more expensive than buying ready made, but damn worth the experience. It also led me to:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/09/the-ars-system-guide-september-2010-edition.ars
This guide hand picks all the components for three different computers, the Budget Box, the Hot Rod, and the God Box. It walks you through the whys of each selection, and comparable options you may choose to opt for instead. I considered building the Hot Rod verbatim, however, after plugging in the different components at:
http://www.newegg.com/
I read some reviews and wasn't all that thrilled with some of the products.
At this point I felt I was going to have to learn more, because sadly you can't just pick any parts you want and hope they'll work. Much like you can't put an HD DVD (not like they exist anymore) in a Blue Ray player, some components just aren't compatible with other components. Also, as familiar I may have been with components I was already using, turns out there are better options for what I want to do.
Meandering in Barns and Noble one day I came across:
Building a PC, 2nd Edition, by Stuart Yarnald
Now, I'll admit right off the bat, this book is dated, but, and it's a big but, it was still very useful. It helped lay out everything from figuring out what you want your computer to do, to making sure you understand how all the parts work together and fit together. It covers everything from the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and peripherals (i.e. printers and web cams) to piecing them together and trouble shooting. The book is very easily laid out (the chapters are color coded) and doesn't get too caught up in technical jargon, making it possible for a newb like me to follow along.
When it comes time to making purchases i'll be shopping at:
Best Buy, MPC Computers (also know as Milwaukee PC) and NewEgg.com
As much as I would prefer to buy in store, there is just not enough selection to do what I want to do. I've also been recommended to check out:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
They offer some 'bare bones kits' to help a newb or pro get started with some saving by buying a bundle over buying each part separately.
If you're on the west coast you may be lucky to have a Fry's Electronics nearby.
For my first time out I think these few resources have been a great start for me.
First up is:
http://lifehacker.com/#!5151369/the-first+timers-guide-to-building-a-computer-from-scratch
This article spoke directly to me.It makes it clear that building will be no picnic, possibly more expensive than buying ready made, but damn worth the experience. It also led me to:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/09/the-ars-system-guide-september-2010-edition.ars
This guide hand picks all the components for three different computers, the Budget Box, the Hot Rod, and the God Box. It walks you through the whys of each selection, and comparable options you may choose to opt for instead. I considered building the Hot Rod verbatim, however, after plugging in the different components at:
http://www.newegg.com/
I read some reviews and wasn't all that thrilled with some of the products.
At this point I felt I was going to have to learn more, because sadly you can't just pick any parts you want and hope they'll work. Much like you can't put an HD DVD (not like they exist anymore) in a Blue Ray player, some components just aren't compatible with other components. Also, as familiar I may have been with components I was already using, turns out there are better options for what I want to do.
Meandering in Barns and Noble one day I came across:
Building a PC, 2nd Edition, by Stuart Yarnald
Now, I'll admit right off the bat, this book is dated, but, and it's a big but, it was still very useful. It helped lay out everything from figuring out what you want your computer to do, to making sure you understand how all the parts work together and fit together. It covers everything from the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and peripherals (i.e. printers and web cams) to piecing them together and trouble shooting. The book is very easily laid out (the chapters are color coded) and doesn't get too caught up in technical jargon, making it possible for a newb like me to follow along.
When it comes time to making purchases i'll be shopping at:
Best Buy, MPC Computers (also know as Milwaukee PC) and NewEgg.com
As much as I would prefer to buy in store, there is just not enough selection to do what I want to do. I've also been recommended to check out:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
They offer some 'bare bones kits' to help a newb or pro get started with some saving by buying a bundle over buying each part separately.
If you're on the west coast you may be lucky to have a Fry's Electronics nearby.
For my first time out I think these few resources have been a great start for me.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
How it Started
PREFACE:
This is written for the intent to be read by newbs. So I’m going to do my best to spell everything out and put things in laymen terms. It wont give all the answers, because damn it, there are a LOT, this will just walk you through mine.
HOW IT STARTED:
Back in December I wanted to start playing World of Warcraft (WoW) again after a several month hiatus. It took over twelve hours to reinstall the game, two expansions and all the updates, had it not been easily accessible from the WoW web page it probably would have taken longer doing it with disks by hand (thank you Blizzard.). I was delighted when I was finally given the cue that I could start playing. Sadly, I could barely get the game to run at more then 4 frames per minute (fpm). I remember having this difficulty before and it had been an issue with the video drivers. Here’s where the issues start.
In the course of my life I’ve owed two desktop computers and one laptop (currently just the laptop). All of which were picked out and taken care of by an ex. So anytime something was wrong or needed to be updated he’d do it. Where as this was convenient it was also annoying, because he didn’t have the patience to show me how to do it myself, and damn did I want to, it has left me stumbling to figure things out on my own. Anyways, trying to update the drivers was an issue because I had no idea what they were or where they were, so it took more time for me to figure out how to find them then it did to actually update them. When I got that far updated drivers did nothing to upgrade the performance of the game. So I rolled back the drivers, basically un-updated them. No luck there, and bummed because it was a technique that I remember having had worked for the ex.
Next idea I had was that maybe I just had too much crap on my computer. So I went to uninstall anything and everything I could. I deleted word files and games that I never played, and other add on items that I knew weren’t necessary to the operation of my laptop. Afterward I defragmented (defraged) the hard drive. However, there were still scads of things that I had no idea what they were or why they were on my computer. All I did know, was at some point in time or another, I was told to leave them alone by the ex. Great! I tried putting some of the names in Google Search but that only made me more confused then I already was. What little memory I was able to free up did nothing to improve the game quality.
From there I tried installing more memory. The laptop was bought for playing WoW and playing on the internet. My guess was that with installing Photoshop CS5 it was eating at too much memory to play WoW like I should have been able to. Since I have a student edition of the program I’m allowed one install so it’s tied to my laptop until the laptop dies. Adding more memory didn’t work either. Maybe I put in more then the rest of components are able to run, who knows, I didn't bother to check because this was about the time I decided I was building my own computer.
No more getting bundles pre-picked by someone else, with programs pre-installed. Nope. I’m going to know everything from the hardware to the software that’s in my machine. I’m going to know what everything does and how to fix it when it doesn’t work. And damn it, I like building things.
These last few months I’ve been learning the what’s what of computer components and how they work. I’ve been researching parts and the bare minimums I need to run what I want to run. I’m finally to the point where I feel comfortable making decisions and this week I start making selections and purchases.
The rest of the blog will be about the resources that I’ve used, the components I’ve chosen, the build itself, how it all turned out, and possibly any future builds. Mostly, this is for me, but if this blog helps anyone else out, well that’s just a bonus.
This is written for the intent to be read by newbs. So I’m going to do my best to spell everything out and put things in laymen terms. It wont give all the answers, because damn it, there are a LOT, this will just walk you through mine.
HOW IT STARTED:
Back in December I wanted to start playing World of Warcraft (WoW) again after a several month hiatus. It took over twelve hours to reinstall the game, two expansions and all the updates, had it not been easily accessible from the WoW web page it probably would have taken longer doing it with disks by hand (thank you Blizzard.). I was delighted when I was finally given the cue that I could start playing. Sadly, I could barely get the game to run at more then 4 frames per minute (fpm). I remember having this difficulty before and it had been an issue with the video drivers. Here’s where the issues start.
In the course of my life I’ve owed two desktop computers and one laptop (currently just the laptop). All of which were picked out and taken care of by an ex. So anytime something was wrong or needed to be updated he’d do it. Where as this was convenient it was also annoying, because he didn’t have the patience to show me how to do it myself, and damn did I want to, it has left me stumbling to figure things out on my own. Anyways, trying to update the drivers was an issue because I had no idea what they were or where they were, so it took more time for me to figure out how to find them then it did to actually update them. When I got that far updated drivers did nothing to upgrade the performance of the game. So I rolled back the drivers, basically un-updated them. No luck there, and bummed because it was a technique that I remember having had worked for the ex.
Next idea I had was that maybe I just had too much crap on my computer. So I went to uninstall anything and everything I could. I deleted word files and games that I never played, and other add on items that I knew weren’t necessary to the operation of my laptop. Afterward I defragmented (defraged) the hard drive. However, there were still scads of things that I had no idea what they were or why they were on my computer. All I did know, was at some point in time or another, I was told to leave them alone by the ex. Great! I tried putting some of the names in Google Search but that only made me more confused then I already was. What little memory I was able to free up did nothing to improve the game quality.
From there I tried installing more memory. The laptop was bought for playing WoW and playing on the internet. My guess was that with installing Photoshop CS5 it was eating at too much memory to play WoW like I should have been able to. Since I have a student edition of the program I’m allowed one install so it’s tied to my laptop until the laptop dies. Adding more memory didn’t work either. Maybe I put in more then the rest of components are able to run, who knows, I didn't bother to check because this was about the time I decided I was building my own computer.
No more getting bundles pre-picked by someone else, with programs pre-installed. Nope. I’m going to know everything from the hardware to the software that’s in my machine. I’m going to know what everything does and how to fix it when it doesn’t work. And damn it, I like building things.
These last few months I’ve been learning the what’s what of computer components and how they work. I’ve been researching parts and the bare minimums I need to run what I want to run. I’m finally to the point where I feel comfortable making decisions and this week I start making selections and purchases.
The rest of the blog will be about the resources that I’ve used, the components I’ve chosen, the build itself, how it all turned out, and possibly any future builds. Mostly, this is for me, but if this blog helps anyone else out, well that’s just a bonus.
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