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Ahh, my second new topic in 5 minutes, yep, I'm getting back into using my pc again. I'll be pestering people about the web site I'm working on soon if I'm not careful :^)
As a combination of cheapskate and wannabe nerd, a year ago I began to build myself a pc. I bought the case then bust my shoulder, had to leave my job and couldn't afford to continue.
Now I'm starting up again.
I have a reasonable idea of my way around a pc, I know all the internal bits I need (I think) - except cables maybe, but I should be able to figure that out when I try to put everything together...
So then there's putting everything together. I knew a guy who did it by trial and error - is that a good idea? Seemed a bit reckless to me.
Can anyone recommend a good how-to web guide?
And can I expect to have to fiddle around in bios with drivers and stuff for everything, or should the first start-up just be a matter of firing up an OS ?
Cheers
As a combination of cheapskate and wannabe nerd, a year ago I began to build myself a pc. I bought the case then bust my shoulder, had to leave my job and couldn't afford to continue.
Now I'm starting up again.
I have a reasonable idea of my way around a pc, I know all the internal bits I need (I think) - except cables maybe, but I should be able to figure that out when I try to put everything together...
So then there's putting everything together. I knew a guy who did it by trial and error - is that a good idea? Seemed a bit reckless to me.
Can anyone recommend a good how-to web guide?
And can I expect to have to fiddle around in bios with drivers and stuff for everything, or should the first start-up just be a matter of firing up an OS ?
Cheers
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Eek, Sounds a bit of a predicament mate!
But is it really that important to have the power LED connected? After all, it's only an LED!
What does it say on the little black plug?
But is it really that important to have the power LED connected? After all, it's only an LED!
What does it say on the little black plug?
Noooooooo
Motherboard arrived today. It did have an IDE cable included, but I'd ordered round ones instead of ribbons, so there is some kind of purpose to my buying 2...
Everything was going well - fitted the processor and its fan, ram, set the mb in the case, wired up the cd (waiting for the big-bay tray to do the HDD).
Problem:
I'm connecting the front face buttons and LEDs: the HDD LED, power switch and reset things all plug in fine, and (I believe) definitely in the right places.
But that leaves me with 2 pins to fit the power LED lines onto, and the 2 relevant wires are fitted into the end bays of a 3-space-wide little black plug.
So it doesn't fit.
What's going on? Is this normal? If I'd gone for a P4-type MB would it have accepted the 3 wide plug?
Perhaps more importantly - if I cut/saw the plug down the middle of the blank bay, so that I can fit each of the bays with wires onto one of the available pins, in theory should my power light work?
Motherboard arrived today. It did have an IDE cable included, but I'd ordered round ones instead of ribbons, so there is some kind of purpose to my buying 2...
Everything was going well - fitted the processor and its fan, ram, set the mb in the case, wired up the cd (waiting for the big-bay tray to do the HDD).
Problem:
I'm connecting the front face buttons and LEDs: the HDD LED, power switch and reset things all plug in fine, and (I believe) definitely in the right places.
But that leaves me with 2 pins to fit the power LED lines onto, and the 2 relevant wires are fitted into the end bays of a 3-space-wide little black plug.
So it doesn't fit.
What's going on? Is this normal? If I'd gone for a P4-type MB would it have accepted the 3 wide plug?
Perhaps more importantly - if I cut/saw the plug down the middle of the blank bay, so that I can fit each of the bays with wires onto one of the available pins, in theory should my power light work?
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> Sorry duck!
>
> You'll thank me for it one day. Or at least you would have if I
> mentioned that most (but not all mind) motherboards come with IDE
> cables...
Nooooooooooo!!!
*cries*
:^D
Oh well, it's only money
*cries more*
> Sorry duck!
>
> You'll thank me for it one day. Or at least you would have if I
> mentioned that most (but not all mind) motherboards come with IDE
> cables...
Nooooooooooo!!!
*cries*
:^D
Oh well, it's only money
*cries more*
Sorry duck!
You'll thank me for it one day. Or at least you would have if I mentioned that most (but not all mind) motherboards come with IDE cables...
You'll thank me for it one day. Or at least you would have if I mentioned that most (but not all mind) motherboards come with IDE cables...
Loquacious Duck wrote:
> *Buys another IDE cable*
>
> Fft, I'll be pushing £250 at this rate ¦^)
>
> I was having a look at the complicated master-slave thing in the cd
> instuctions.
>
> Is it just if you have 2 devices on one cable that you need the
> master/slave thing?
Yeah
> And is their physical position on the cable
> important?
No
> Actually, when you have 3 things on an IDE cable, does it matter
> which place the motherboard takes?
> Can it go in the middle? Either end?
Usually you put the motherboard in the end socket that is furthest away from the middle one, so that it can actually reach the motherboard.
> *Buys another IDE cable*
>
> Fft, I'll be pushing £250 at this rate ¦^)
>
> I was having a look at the complicated master-slave thing in the cd
> instuctions.
>
> Is it just if you have 2 devices on one cable that you need the
> master/slave thing?
Yeah
> And is their physical position on the cable
> important?
No
> Actually, when you have 3 things on an IDE cable, does it matter
> which place the motherboard takes?
> Can it go in the middle? Either end?
Usually you put the motherboard in the end socket that is furthest away from the middle one, so that it can actually reach the motherboard.
*Buys another IDE cable*
Fft, I'll be pushing £250 at this rate ¦^)
I was having a look at the complicated master-slave thing in the cd instuctions.
Is it just if you have 2 devices on one cable that you need the master/slave thing? And is their physical position on the cable important?
Actually, when you have 3 things on an IDE cable, does it matter which place the motherboard takes?
Can it go in the middle? Either end?
Cheers
Fft, I'll be pushing £250 at this rate ¦^)
I was having a look at the complicated master-slave thing in the cd instuctions.
Is it just if you have 2 devices on one cable that you need the master/slave thing? And is their physical position on the cable important?
Actually, when you have 3 things on an IDE cable, does it matter which place the motherboard takes?
Can it go in the middle? Either end?
Cheers
I presume you mean that you couldn't manage to get the hard drive and the CD drive close together enough to connect them using the one IDE cable?
Even if you can, don't. You will have two IDE sockets on your motherboard, use one each.
Reason I say this is that you can only send and receive information from one thing on each IDE cable at any one time. So if they are both on the same cable (technical term same IDE channel) then when you access the hard drive you can't access the CD drive. Now in most things this won't make a difference, you'll not notice the micro second delays.
But if you try to burn a CD using files from the hard drive, then you get problems.
So use a cable for each. If you have a DVD drive as well say, then make that the slave on the same channel as the hard drive, so that disc to disc copying can be done as well.
To set master and slave, there are jumpers on the back of drives. One is marked M, the other S. I'm sure you can figure it out...
Even if you can, don't. You will have two IDE sockets on your motherboard, use one each.
Reason I say this is that you can only send and receive information from one thing on each IDE cable at any one time. So if they are both on the same cable (technical term same IDE channel) then when you access the hard drive you can't access the CD drive. Now in most things this won't make a difference, you'll not notice the micro second delays.
But if you try to burn a CD using files from the hard drive, then you get problems.
So use a cable for each. If you have a DVD drive as well say, then make that the slave on the same channel as the hard drive, so that disc to disc copying can be done as well.
To set master and slave, there are jumpers on the back of drives. One is marked M, the other S. I'm sure you can figure it out...
Grr....
I got a bunch of my bits in the post today, so I've been putting some in place (still don't have the motherboard yet though, but it'll arrive soon).
So I quickly realised the HDD fitted in the columns below the fdd (it wouldn't go anywhere else anyway). Only there just 1 screw on each side held it in place, so it wobbled.
Then I put it in the spare fdd bay, where I could use 2 screws each side to hold it better.
But in both positions my 3 socket IDE cable couldn't reach the CD and HDD :^(
-Actually, does it matter which of the 3 sockets I use for which device (motherboard, HDD, CD)?
It might be possible...
But I ordered a 5.25"(?) HDD tray instead, so I can hold the HDD somewhere nice, fit everything onto one IDE cable, and as an added bonus, use just one of the power lines for the CD, HDD and Floppy.
Still, it seems odd that there was nowhere the HDD properly fitted securely. It concerns me.
Oh well, in a few days I should have fixed it :^S
I got a bunch of my bits in the post today, so I've been putting some in place (still don't have the motherboard yet though, but it'll arrive soon).
So I quickly realised the HDD fitted in the columns below the fdd (it wouldn't go anywhere else anyway). Only there just 1 screw on each side held it in place, so it wobbled.
Then I put it in the spare fdd bay, where I could use 2 screws each side to hold it better.
But in both positions my 3 socket IDE cable couldn't reach the CD and HDD :^(
-Actually, does it matter which of the 3 sockets I use for which device (motherboard, HDD, CD)?
It might be possible...
But I ordered a 5.25"(?) HDD tray instead, so I can hold the HDD somewhere nice, fit everything onto one IDE cable, and as an added bonus, use just one of the power lines for the CD, HDD and Floppy.
Still, it seems odd that there was nowhere the HDD properly fitted securely. It concerns me.
Oh well, in a few days I should have fixed it :^S
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> ...than PC Next Day's
> DDR 266 stuff.
*Gasp* How did you know? :^D
> ...than PC Next Day's
> DDR 266 stuff.
*Gasp* How did you know? :^D
Notorious Biggles wrote:
> Never
> said this would make sense!
A wise decision :^D
I'll read it again tomorrow, and maybe the day afetr that too. Each time I do it makes a little more sense!
gamezfreak wrote:
> What is your overall budget Duck, and what have you left to buy?
All included, it should come to a little bit over £200 - for the case and everything within.
I'll take the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse (it's a nice newish optical one anyway) from my old computer for now.
Then when I have more cash again I'll probably look into replacing it all with better stuff. Maybe a TFT monitor if they come down in price a bit, and perhaps a mini case and motherboard.
And more ram. And maybe a quiet 80mm fan (my processor sink will run at 20Db anyway, aparently).
So it'll be a matter of ram, fan, thank you mam :^)
I've ordered most of the bits today actually - just the graphics card and maybe an 80mm fan (there's one in the psu anyway, but it won't cost much to add another). Might do that tomorrow. Then it should just be a matter of waiting for everything to arrive and trying to make it all fit :^D
> Never
> said this would make sense!
A wise decision :^D
I'll read it again tomorrow, and maybe the day afetr that too. Each time I do it makes a little more sense!
gamezfreak wrote:
> What is your overall budget Duck, and what have you left to buy?
All included, it should come to a little bit over £200 - for the case and everything within.
I'll take the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse (it's a nice newish optical one anyway) from my old computer for now.
Then when I have more cash again I'll probably look into replacing it all with better stuff. Maybe a TFT monitor if they come down in price a bit, and perhaps a mini case and motherboard.
And more ram. And maybe a quiet 80mm fan (my processor sink will run at 20Db anyway, aparently).
So it'll be a matter of ram, fan, thank you mam :^)
I've ordered most of the bits today actually - just the graphics card and maybe an 80mm fan (there's one in the psu anyway, but it won't cost much to add another). Might do that tomorrow. Then it should just be a matter of waiting for everything to arrive and trying to make it all fit :^D
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