I know what I'm doing tonight.....

[anne]

This is going to take forever to assemble, but I am so excited! It'll be a good time. My husband and are going to have a blast ^^

Any tips from you guys?

 

[krizpy]

Umm, static wristband. Asprin. Hopefully another running computer if anything goes wrong so you can read tech forums... Im going to be doing something of the same tonight too. Installing a new watercooling system and trying again to get Vista 64 to run stable with 4gigs of ram.

 

[MrQ]

Oh supa sweet!! Your making me drool! Yeah Anti-static wristban is a must, a good medium sized magnetized tip phillips screwdriver, zipties, flathead screwdriver are also good things to have on hand.

I just came off installing another power supply in my computer and it took me an hour. So yeah, aspirin, punching bag, and antacid...these are the necessitiess of any computer builder. Make sure to take breaks every now and then or else you will make BIIIIG mistakes because you are getting cross-eyed from putting it together.

Also keep everything in the anti-static bags until you need it, and when you do use it put it on the bag it will help protect the hardware.

Install all your fans, hard drives, and cd drives in the case before putting in the motherboard. Install the cpu/heatsink and the memory on the mobo before putting it in the case. Make sure the power supply is the last thing you put in. Leave the case open until it fully boots into windows so you can get in there without having to take the side panels off each time there's a trouble shooting issue.

ENJOY!!

 

[Lafinass]

Yes. Update your bios.

Also, what processor are you using? In the current BIOS, the eVGA 790i does not properly configure its GTLVREF for a lot of processors.

 

[MrQ]

Its a 780i laffy.

 

[trykael]

haaaaawwwtt!! have fun <grin> I LOVE building new rigs...sadly, it's quite the addiction that my paychecks just don't cover very well ::mutter::

 

[Glitch]

When I'm building a new computer, I always build it out of the case with the essentials just to do a hardware check. It's so frustrating to troubleshoot the entire day just to find out that you have a bad motherboard. If it posts, you're golden. If not, then you know it's most likely hardware-related than something simple like a short or something.

 

[Lafinass]

[quote1210192505=MrQ]
Its a 780i laffy.
[/quote1210192505]

Ah, same box.

I'd still check their forums beforehand. Motherboards these days are depressingly bad at automatic settings for CPU and RAM.

 

[/dev/null]

I've been very happy with my 780i. Cool to see the pin-less CPU mounting.

 

[OODA Loop]

nice, have fun! you probably won't, i never do when building, lots and lots of frustration. maybe its because i'm a noob...

</self_realization>

 

[Silent Assassin]

Remember to ground yourself, touch the metal case each time you handle a new component.

 

[/dev/null]

What are you using for a heat sink, btw? My CPU came with the bog standard retail heat sink. Did not care for the way it mounted at all. Love to get a picture of the backside of the board and how your heat sink fits on.

 

[/dev/null]

Oh, and pics of the finished build!

 

[anne]

Okay, right, soo....

Here's the front of the tower:

Here is the view through the clear side panel:

And.... Just for fun, here's the set up that you're being killed by:

Well, this concludes my odyssey through building a computer... I may never do that again! Blech, anyways, thanks for your tips guys

 

[FireBirdX]

/Jealous

Lol, nice rig, well done! Now get back to TF2!

 

[Sn1PeR]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is. (Assuming you don't have a hardware problem). Post your complete system specs! You don't have to use a static wristband (I never have), just ground yourself by holding onto the metal part of the inside of the case. Make sure you get a good seat on the cpu cooler, if you are using a stock P4 style cooler, the pins can be very hard to get all of the way in. They require a lot of pressure, and it is sometimes advisable to put a towel under the motherboard and install the cooler before you put the mobo into the case so as to prevent bending the motherboard too badly. If you are using an aftermarket cpu cooler, go easy on the thermal paste, you don't need very much (4-5mm diameter ball on the center). You will love your 8800GT!! I can run TF2 at 1920x1200 with EVERYTHING maxed very smoothly on mine! I might add another for SLI (can't play Crysis at 1920x1200... but it was smooth at 1280x1024 using CCC high detail custom config).

I really don't think it will take you very long. Maybe a few hours if you have a general idea of what you are doing.

My other recommendation is to download the latest drivers for EVERYTHING rather than just installing what comes on the CD's with the hardware. This will not only give you better performance, but will prevent unwanted old driver files from floating around on the HDD.

 

[Sn1PeR]

I guess I didn't see the second page before I wrote that response... Congrats on the new build! You know you will be back, there is no other way to get a great system for little $$! I'm digging that monitor, I just got a 28" Hanspree myself, widescreens are so nice for multitasking office documents.

 

[Rogue Sniper]

have fun, dont shock yourself
i just ordered new parts for my new comp cant wait to put them together, second comp im building