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.

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. 

               

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?
                           

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.

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.