So I've been itching to get a new PC for a while for TF2, been playing in 640/all low on my P4 and it's finally starting to lock up/crash out midgame and in general steam is becoming COMPLETELY unplayable... I need my daily TF2 fix so I'm going to build my a new PC asap.

I'll be buying from MSY, here is the parts list:

http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

MOBO is the thing I have NO idea about, I look at that parts list and just see a load of crap numbers/letters. Is there anything I should aim for? I don't want to buy anything too s***ty that it will come back to bite me.

I probably don't have the immediate budget for a 8000 series cpu, so I was thinking the E7200 (remember my current CPU is a P4 3.0ghz so anything is a bonus).

Ram I was just going to get 2gb of DDR2. Is it worth the money getting the higher speed 1066mhz or should the 800mhz be sufficient?

Any thoughts on the best bang for buck case/PSU? A few mates have those Soprano cases, they look pretty swish, that's the only thing I recognize on the list, $125... probably don't need something like that though for a reasonably cheap PC.

Hard drive, any of those SATA drives would be sufficient I assume. What brand out of Samsung/WD/Seagate is preferred?

I'm going to use my 8600GT for a few weeks (used it in a core2 before and ran TF2 sweetly) before I upgrade to a 9600/9800, so that's not immediate right now.

Thanks in advance QGL!

800mhz is fine;
best cpu you can afford;
asus pxx series mobo (whatever suits)
2gig 800mhz ram
nice cm case
f*** OFF THE STOCK COOLING ON THE NEW INTELS THOUGH THEY ARE s***
personally id go the 4850
whatever harddrive you want

= super kik ass tf2 machine for approx $800

I go past Umart today, they have massive range of Coolmaster cases + 420w cpu in the $70 - $90 range.

420w is all I need right?

yes
also, you mean msy? they do cm too

Super Cheap
$151 Intel CORE 2 E5200
$038 Cooler Master Hyper TX2
$062 2x1GB PC2-6400 Geil 555-15
$134 Gigabyte EP35-DS3R
$128 MSI 4670 512M
$059 CM Centurion RC333 Elite
$085 Antec EarthWatts 430W
$095 Samsung 640GB
$752

Cheap
$235 Intel CORE 2 E7400
$038 Cooler Master Hyper TX2
$069 2x1GB PC2-6400 Geil 444-12
$175 Asus P5Q
$239 MSI 4850 512MB
$099 Antec Three Hundred
$145 Corsair HX-520
$095 Samsung 640GB
$1095

MSY list is hard to decipher, I'll have to ring the lazy bastards at 10:30 to check out what they have, my postie run goes past Umart every day, but I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible.

Stick to MSY - much better sales, after sales and tech support than Umart. Plus you don't have to line up like a gimp waiting for your name to be called*

* Opinion formed on MSY Morningside only

when i order by boxes from msy, i just email them what i want and usually they get back to me pretty quick:

asus p5Q-se $155
e7300 $185
2g aapacer $46
cm cac-505 $105
512m gigabyte 4850 $244
samsung 750g sata $115

ask them if that all plays nicely together and is in stock
$850
any spare cash, spend on cooling for cpu or cpu upgrade

That's pretty much spot on Spook.

$600, throw my 8600GT in it and I'm back pwning in TF2.

Buy the new vid card in a fortnight and I should be ready to battle (albeit nothing near max) some of the newer games.

yup, good plan

MSY rocks... except they don't always have what is on the list, the list is near on unreadable. And the staff are more then likely to pull out something wrong.

who doesn't go to msy for their awesome website

Yeah MSY are great, however having to keep all my receipts, no online order form etc can get a bit annoying.
I still go there most of the time (cus they are open till 630! and I finish at 6, and it's on the way home)

i have a cuppla hardware related question that i'll throw in here to avoid making another hardware thread...

quad core vs dual core... what sorta things are likely to decide one way or the other?
ddr2 vs ddr3... is it better to get a heap (8Gb) of ddr2 or less of faster ddr3?
vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

quad core vs dual core... what sorta things are likely to decide one way or the other?

Do you do lots of video or audio processing using programs that are highly optimised for 4+ cores? If not then go dual-core. A 3.33GHz dual-core will run typically 25% faster than an identically priced 2.66GHz quad-core for almost ALL applications other than those that really use 4 cores very well (which is very, very few). In other words for single core apps, the faster-clocked dual-core will kick it's arse. For most poor to moderately coded multi-core apps (the majority out there), having 4 slower cores instead of 2 faster ones is actually worse .. still better off with faster dual-core.

ddr2 vs ddr3... is it better to get a heap (8Gb) of ddr2 or less of faster ddr3?

Personally I'd just go the larger DDR2 as I'd never want to run out of memory (digging into swap-space is slower than both DDR2 and DDR3 by a few orders of magnitude!)

vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

If you have lots of ram you'll need x64. Downsides are that drivers need mandatory signatures or else they won't install. You'll just have to check with the manufacturer of all of your hardware to see if they have x64 support. Should be alright for 95% of modern hardware by big companies, but it can rule out little open-source helper drivers. If you just game or do business stuff then you're unlikely to come across these (it's more of a software/hardware developer thing usually).

last edited by parabol at 11:58:36 12/Nov/08

yer, ill just add i havent had a single driver issue with 64bit vista, including my clunky old logitech joypad

anything new and non obscure will be fine

From the outset, I assume you are talking game performance here? Performance tends to differ considerably across different applications otherwise.

quad core vs dual core... what sorta things are likely to decide one way or the other?

A higher speed dual core is usually better performance wise than a slower speed (and thus similar cost) quad core, at least generally. Mainly because most applications still aren't terribly well optimized for 2 cores let alone 4.

ddr2 vs ddr3... is it better to get a heap (8Gb) of ddr2 or less of faster ddr3?

The vast majority of games run in a 2 GB address space (default maximum lump for xp32). That means buying more than 4 GB of ram is still a waste, pretty much.

Let me put it this way:

• If your options were 2 GB of DDR3 or 4 GB or more of DDR2, I would go for the DDR2.


• If you were going for 4GB of DDR3 or 8GB of DDR2 I would go the DDR3.

vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

If you are running 4 GB of ram, you'll lose about 500 meg or so by staying with Vista32. If you are running 8 GB, you're missing out on 4.5GB :P

If you're running 2GB there is no real reason to switch, most games still don't come with x64 binaries and performance doesn't usually change much when they do.

last edited by icewyrm at 12:24:05 12/Nov/08

cheers for the infos :D it's actually not gonna be primarily a gaming box, although i will wanna play games on it. it'll mainly be used for 3d cad (pro-e & altium designer), video processing (virtualdub n the like) & audio apps like cubase & reason.

i know pro-e uses multiple cores but i dunno how effectively... hard to get decent info on it coz everyone just gives thier post-purchace-bias'd opinion rather than direct comparisons :/ same with the music apps... forums full of people saying it works fine with either dual or quad cores :b

also... is it worthwhile going sli with pci-e x16? video cards are easily cheap enough to buy two of them but is it really worthwhile performance-wise? & if you are using 2 vid cards in sli is there any problems using multiple monitors?

quad core vs dual core... what sorta things are likely to decide one way or the other?

Unless you are multiboxing (ie. running multiple games on 1 pc at the same time), or rendering things. Much of a muchness. Alot of games aren't even using 2 cores properly, never mind 4.

ddr2 vs ddr3... is it better to get a heap (8Gb) of ddr2 or less of faster ddr3?

I have no experience of ddr3, but all the reviews I saw basically said no real gain, even less so for the price.

vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

vista64 gives you more ram ... in theory.
32 bit apps (most games) are still 32 bit and most aren't even large memory model enabled. ie. limited to addressing 4gig cos thats all wow32 on v64 gives a 32bit app and have a user addressable space of 2 gig (see the /3g and /userva switches in XP, vista its done via bcedit).

But if you have 64bit apps, or need buckets of HDD caching sure.
Also any drivers have to be signed. Big deal ? ... well that includes drivers for virtual devices. ie. some virtual keyboards/mice.

I have legal copies of v64, v32 and XP, and personally prefer xp32 for gaming, "work", browsing basically everything except: v32 for my HTPC and v64 for Multiboxing.


last edited by Obes at 12:56:44 12/Nov/08

Done and done, pretty much exactly what you posted Spook.

Asus P5Q-SE
E7300
2gb Kingston
640gb Samsung
CoolMaster case/PSU
DVD-burner

Ended up $604

thank me later, will be sweet box of tf2 jor

Don't you prefer playing TF2 in 640x480 anyway? Why bother upgrading?

Why bother upgrading?

I need a better comp for sniping, the res + fps makes it pretty hard.

I was happy though, but like I said, steam is struggling to the point where it takes 15 minutes to boot up get into a game of TF2. Then you're on server retry for 15 minutes. Then you get into a good game, and a bunch of ubered demos start raping SG's and my comp crashes.

Not fun.

vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

No.

I was running Vista 32 with 8GB RAM for about 2 months before I realised that it wasn't able to access that amount of RAM.

Since I already had the RAM, I benchmarked my PC with 3DMark06 and scored 12,854.

Then I installed Vista 64 (so now it recognises the full 8GB) and benchmarked again - 12,960. In other words, it's a useless upgrade for gaming.

And then there's the other problems. Don't get me started on signed drivers. You are unable to use so many apps that I consider essential (e.g., PeerGuardian 2), simply because they don't want to pay Micro$oft the $500 driver signing fee.

Also, your favourite apps start to have problems. For example, apps which support context menus (e.g., UltraEdit). Suddenly context menus don't work, which means you can't right-click on files to perform actions for software that has not been properly updated for Vista 64, which is a lot of software.

According the Valve survery I just did, 2.6% of gamers who have done the survey use Vista 64. Probably for the reasons above.

I have used Vista 64 for about 3 months now, and on the weekend I am changing back to Vista 32 and putting 4GB RAM in my girlfriends computer (a waste, I know *sigh*).

Since I already had the RAM, I benchmarked my PC with 3DMark06 and scored 12,854.

Then I installed Vista 64 (so now it recognises the full 8GB) and benchmarked again - 12,960. In other words, it's a useless upgrade for gaming.

A benchmark is completely useless and deceptive when used incorrectly or without thought.

Most likely your benchmark program isn't loading enough stuff into ram to even notice the extra memory there. Play a game that requires -lots- of swapping between RAM and video memory, like Oblivion with textures and quality on the highest setting. You'll likely notice that much of the stuff will remain cached as you traverse back and forth between very large large outdoor areas, instead of it jerking around trying to reload the terrain/textures.

Now I'm not saying Oblivion will run faster, just saying that's an example of something to test instead of synthetic benchmarks that don't really stress your system out like a real game with real media.

last edited by parabol at 13:53:48 12/Nov/08

my girlfriend

pics or lying

i very rarely see my box use more than 2gig of ram

when i was alt-tabbing crysis it was heading up towards 3gig, most other games it sits under 2 gig

Spook, 32 bit Microsoft operating systems by default only have 2gig of userspace, the other 2 gig reserved for kernel etc. Even if you assign more to the userspace the appilcation needs to be told it can use it

Doesn't effect how much virtual memory is being used.

So the size of the paging file is a better indicator, since there isn't really a limit on virtual memory

unless you have a really small/full hard drive

Spook, 32 bit Microsoft operating systems by default only have 2gig of userspace, the other 2 gig reserved for kernel etc. Even if you assign more to the userspace the appilcation needs to be told it can use it

i run vista 64bit

In which case the application has to be flagged to use more. And I wouldn't be surprised if the default for wow32 (windows on windows not Warcraft) for vista64 had a similar 2gig limit.

would make sense, as i mentioned its very rare to see more than 2gig of memory being used:

im pretty sure i ran the 64bit version of crysis



last edited by Spook at 14:37:53 12/Nov/08

so anyone use sli'd pci-e x16? I THOUGHT U GUYZ R HARDC0RE GAMERZ DAMNITS !@#! ;D

Even if a game + OS uses just under 2GB on average it's probably best to have an extra gig on top of that for disk cache and to handle the occasional bursts of high memory usage. If you don't leave enough for disk cache then you're just asking for more disk access since frequently accessed data isn't being retained much anymore.

vista32 vs vista64... is there any real advantage in getting vista64 yet?

A few of the encoder codecs I use don't install under 64bit vista, there are tricks to make some of them install but not all of them so watch out if you like to edit home movies in virtual dub, windows movie maker still works fine though so I kind of just used that instead.

o anyone use sli'd pci-e x16? I THOUGHT U GUYZ R HARDC0RE GAMERZ DAMNITS !@#! ;D

When I get off my lazy ass and buy a new mobo I want to go SLI, is it really worth it though? I mean does it work for any game or only those designed for 2 cards (like single vs dual core)?

Can I say the stock Intel HS is the biggest c*** to install, I hate you Intel but at the same time, I love you.

is there a heatsink that isnt a nitemare to install?

^ AMD's X2's are a piece of piss.

I'm also getting a new computer extremely soon (like after I finish my exams) so I hope you won't mind if i use this thread as well CHUB. Also you guys have to teach me how to play some TF2 :P

I'm pretty much in the same boat is CHUB, no idea about anything. My budget is a bit more flexible than CHUB's (~$1000) but then again I need monitor as well.

So going by what Spook said:
Mobo: Asus P5Q-SE - $155
CPU: E7300 - $185
Vid Card: 512m gigabyte 4850 - $244
Ram: 2gb Kingston - $46
HDD: 640gb Samsung - $115
Case: CoolMaster case/PSU - $105
Monitor: ?????

Subtotal: $850 - still need a Monitor though!

Regarding the Mobo/CPU/Motherboard is it worth it spending a bit more to get a better model? For example is it worth spending a bit more to get the 1gig 4850 vid card? Will the mobo support newer CPU's/Vidcards?

Thanks guys!

QUESTION:

I'm near capped (only like 400mb left), so I can't afford to setup Steam/TF2 etc. and s*** on the new HD.

Can I put this 60gb HD in my new PC and it will just boot up and go? I've always just done a fresh install on a new HD everytime I've got a PC.

it might, if the chipset from your old mobo to your new one is similar, but i'd doubt it. just cap yourself, it's way easier.

Can I say the stock Intel HS is the biggest c*** to install, I hate you Intel but at the same time, I love you.

must be pretty hard to press 4 little plastic things down...

takes major skills bro

Chub you could probably install windows etc, and just slave up your old drive and copy over the steam directory? Dunno if it'd work or not, but you could try!
Also google it, i swear someone on here said you could copy the steam directory over the top and it'd work

reduaram : that only leaves you with $150 for a monitor & you'd need about $250 for a 22" widescreen lcd which is sorta the standard monitor these days. & really, $250 is fukn cheap for a 22" widescreen lcd.

chub : give it a go i rekn. can't hurt to try! i've stuck old hdds with an existing os in a brand new computer before & it's worked. it just goes through a huge amount of 'detecting new hardware' for all the mobo bit's n pieces n then it's fine.

now my question! :D what's the go with the new intal i7 core cpus? worth waiting for?

I'm near capped (only like 400mb left), so I can't afford to setup Steam/TF2 etc. and s*** on the new HD.

you dont have to redownload all your games. you can back them up onto a disc using steam then install off the disc.

i wouldn't buy anything less than a 512mb HD4870

Demon: I can go over my budget a bit by about $200 if need be.

budgets are made to be broken

Demon: I can go over my budget a bit by about $200 if need be.

Doesn't sound like a budget!@##

dont listen to orbs, he thinks having moar than 30fps matters!!!!

I AM GOING TO f***ING SMASH THIS STUPID f***ING c*** OF A f***ING INTEL FAN f***ING c*** OF A THING

WHY THE f*** WONT THE OTHER TWO GO DOWN!!!!!!!!

SERIOUSLY WHAT THE f***!!!!!

AWERhpaugaerhguaerhguaerhg
aergaerughaeruog

haha, yer, my last two took ages

make sure the clips are all the way to the left and jiggle them a bit while putting a bit of force down on them

they will go eventually;

I have a feeling my mobo is going to break soon.

They're just not going in, no matter how much jiggling or force.

GG intel, you made a f***ing retarded product.

Like 2 went in perfectly, functioned exactly like they should... push and twist, locked in.

The other 2 are just f***ed and won't budge, WHY MAKE A PRODUCT LIKE THIS.

last edited by CHUB at 12:54:53 13/Nov/08

I have AMD and no such problems.

Just thought I'd let you know.

we get far superior perforamce, so the setup hassles are worth it:

I've always had Intel.

But since I don't use it for anything other basic puting, the AMD does the trick for me. I changed this last upgrade for no apparent reason. But I'm unpredictable like that.

Anyway, back to Chub and his problems!

Take bets that he busts something?

Post some pics Chub so we can see what the f*** you are doing ... and laugh at you at the same time ;)

It's in

I say the mobo was 99% on it's way to breaking, has to take it back out of the case and muscle the f*** out of it, mobo was bendng like a f***er.

Intel can suck a wang.

There is no way this PC is going to work ;) I'm just sticking s*** together from the diagrams.

lol

Have a nice frustration free day.

As long as I can figure out where all these power cables go and where the hdd hooks up to the mobo, I'l be fine.

Mobo is in case, CPU fully installed, RAM in, HD in case (need to hook it up).

The fun starts when you turn it on and nothing happens, or things happen that shouldn't happen.

But you never know, you might be on a winner and everything will fire up ok.

sata port, near the corner of the mobo where you plug in your power/reset switch, power/hdd leds etc

you forgot the videocard!

why don't you give us updates everytime you put a new peice in

Video card is fine, that's in the PC I'm posting on :)

Ok everythings in! Time to start hooking s*** up.

If it doesn't work mission, I'm blaming your negative attitude :(

where you plug in your power/reset switch

That's right, that's what was stuffing me around when I built mine. The diagrams were crap and I couldn't read what was written on the mobo. I just randomly plugged and prayed. My fingers are too big to hold those silly little plugs and get them in the right spot. I'd like to see oversized plugs be used, kind of like Duplo.

In the end it works but no power and HDD lights work. Also, just pressing the power button turns it off straight away rather than having to hold in the power button for 5 seconds or so.

last edited by mission at 13:17:58 13/Nov/08

last edited by mission at 13:18:36 13/Nov/08

The Asus board comes with a nifty little connector thing with writing all over it... plug all your little gay cords into that as per the diagram, then plug that into the board.

Win.

Got the front USB ports done... there's a lot of cables/connectors that have a bunch of numbers/letters on them that I have no idea.

Got to figure out where the CPU fan powers up from.

Found the SATA port, that's hook up.

Main thing that needs done is just all the power in general, the big f***off bundle from the PSU.

hey chub, i used to build these type of PCs in about 27 minutes.

Well as far as I can tell, everything is hooked up properly ;)

Hopefully I'll be posting from my new PC (if the HD works) in a few mins.

I CANT GO BACK TO WORK UNTIL I FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED???

did it implode?

Nop.

No signal at all to monitor. Mobo has power, CPU fan wasspinning, HD was spinning, DVD worked, all the lights and noises and s*** were on and working.

If it's this POS s*** 8600GT it needs to FOAD. I had it for months in my brothers Core2 rig, then suddenly one day is failed to even pick it up, I always assumed it was the mobo/pci-e slot on that computer.

Worked fine in this P4 though.

Why the f*** can't I plug the monitor into the mobo, at least then I could figure out if it's the card or not... now I'm just in the dark.

usually i buy an off the shelf box where building it is factored in:

for my pc, i paid them $70 to build it for me, coz i cant handle the stress of the setup, and coz of my massive man hands

worth it;

It may have been better for you to have this built.

I say the mobo was 99% on it's way to breaking, has to take it back out of the case and muscle the f*** out of it, mobo was bendng like a f***er.

I skimmed the thread but I reckon just maybe this has something to do with your problems now. PCBs aren't really made to be wobble-boards mate!

yep, you have to be really poor or have a really low value of time to be bothered putting your own pc together imo.

unless you like doing it or something.

Na it wasn't that Hogfather, it was a c*** to get in, but I definitely didn't damage it.

didja remember to plug the extra power connector onto the back of the video card?

Definetly? You said it was bent 99% to breaking point which could have easily stretched surface-mounted components to the point of connection breaking.

Speaking of which, why the hell was the motherboard bending as you applied pressure to the CPU mounts & clips? Please don't tell me you attached the CPU after mounting the motherboard to the case...

Exaggerating Hogfather :) I was really frustrated at Intels stupid clip system, it wasn't going to break :)

Please don't tell me you attached the CPU after mounting the motherboard to the case...

Oh noes, looks like I definitely should have got someone to build it :(

didja remember to plug the extra power connector onto the back of the video card?

Wah? I've never plugged anything extra onto this card ever.

So how's your day going Chub?

I want to kill someone tbh.

not wanting to twist the knife or anything, but ive found that you dont get real good support for s*** not working when you build it yourself;

whereas if you get the nice people at msy to build it, they support it real good;

Ahhh, you'll work it out.

It actually feels pretty good to build your own, even if you only do it the once (like me).

Just think logically to trouble shoot it and you should be right.

But I'd say don't worry about the video card yet and just get the basics working. Then add the other bits one at a time, so then you know what is causing the problem if problems occur.

Ah well, I guess I just f***ed everything up then.

I still have a strong feeling it's this s***ty f***ing card that was $90 like 9 months ago. It did work for multiple months on my brothers Core2, then suddenly, no matter how much I tried (formats, drivers, whatever the f***) the PC acted like it was never there.

But I'd say don't worry about the video card yet and just get the basics working. Then add the other bits one at a time, so then you know what is causing the problem if problems occur.

How can I tell if stuff is working if the monitor gets no signal?

There's nowhere on the mobo to plug the monitor in.

last edited by CHUB at 14:59:31 13/Nov/08

As I said, don't use it then.

I guess the MOBO has onboard video? If so, use that to get it up and running and then add the video card, extra HD's, extra optical drives etc.

You should be able to get it running with just the basics to start with.

Edit: just read your edit, so no onboard video huh. Try reseating the video card, take it out and put it back in, it may not be sitting pretty.

I'm no tech so I'm only suggesting the basics.

last edited by mission at 15:02:40 13/Nov/08

No onboard video it seems... if it does, there's nowhere to plug the monitor.

That's what's really s***ting me, I can't tell if it's the vid or not.

are you f***ing listening to him?

He said the mobo has nowhere to plug the monitor in == no onboard video



Computers are very strange things. When I built mine it refused to even power on until I removed the dvd drive, which has never worked in this computer since (worked in old one fine).

edit: beaten :/

If it works in your other comp, it *should* work in this one.

Does that fan start up on the video card when you power up the system? Monitor turned on? Don't laugh but a mate of mine bought a new video card and couldn't get it working properly for games. After hours of trouble shooting (over the phone) it turned out that he hadn't plugged the monitor into the video card :(

last edited by mission at 15:09:10 13/Nov/08

you've shorted the motherboard on the case or something, virtually gauranteed.

Take the board out of the case and boot it up just sitting on a table. Well actually, sit the board on top of the mobo case so you can plug in the vidcard as it's bracket will want to hang below the level of the board.

Just plug everything in as normal, but instead of using a powerswitch, just touch a screwdriver (carefully) to the 2 pins that you hook up the powerswitch too. This is the same thing the powerswitch does so it'll power up the board.

last edited by orbitor at 15:10:13 13/Nov/08

Just plug everything in as normal, but instead of using a powerswitch, just touch a screwdriver (carefully) to the 2 pins that you hook up the powerswitch too. This is the same thing the powerswitch does so it'll power up the board.

Just make sure you're wearing thick rubber boots :/ Zzzzzzzzt

what? you ain't gonna electrocute yourself on a motherboard mate.

anyway if you're scared of the screwdrive start-up just try and reach the powerswitch cable over to the board. should be long enough. or rip a switch with the cable out of an old crappy case.

last edited by orbitor at 15:15:35 13/Nov/08

Do you have on board video to test with.. I always get Mobo's with on-board Video. Tis good as a backup in emergencies.

Also, it could be that some of the bits arn't plugged in right. Try taking your RAM out and putting it back in, plus whatever else you have plugged in (not the CPU or FAN ;)

what? you ain't gonna electrocute yourself on a motherboard mate.

Yeah I realise it's safe, just trying to make Chub nervous :) Mind you I'd be nervous doing that. Don't want to cross the streams and fry my new goodies.

i stopped building my own pcs after i was defeated by a stuck reset button on a case;

i spent an entire weekend pulling s*** appart, putting it back together

could not for the life of me work out what the problem was

turns out the reset button the case was stuck in (i didnt even think of that)
s*** worked out of case, but not in it

was sooooo angry and frustrated;

haha noob spook

It's not the video card, just tested it in my brothers Core2 that he bought last week from MSY.

Well I guess I completely f***ed this.

MOBO light is on, powers up no beeps or any s***, HD is spinning and connected to the SATA, RAM is just a 2gb DS stick can go in any slot, CPU is in the right way and fan is on and spinning.

Dunno wtf else I can do.

What a s*** day.

find another videocard to test in it.

take it all out, put it back in

Does the fan on the video card fire up when you turn on the puter?

It doesn't have a fan, just a heatsink the size of a VHS, it's a POS.

So what's the deal if I ring up MSY and go

"I tried to build a computer, it's not working" and hand it over to them.

I assume MORE $$ then if they built it straight off.

What happens if I f***ed a component while building the PC? Am I screwed?

Hahah hilarious thread. 70 dollars would have saved so much trouble. You will probably have to pay them the 70 dollar build fee + extra if you have f***ed anything up.

Has it a got a pc speaker hooked up to find out what is causing the problem? If the vid card is an issue then you should at least be getting the error beeps for video. If it is not even getting to the stage where it does the POST then its a good chance its something closer to a psu/mobo issue.

Yeah but I wouldn't have learnt a valuable lesson ;)

Life is a c***.

So basically anything I've f***ed is now worthless? If the CPU is rooted I got to buy a new one, mobo rooted / new one etc.?

Yeah you will have to pay them to sort it.

I'd also imagine they will claim you rooted any parts if they are proved to be faulty, rather than they admit they are faulty when sold to you.

I'd be surpised if you actually f***ed anything though. I've changed lots of bits and pieces in my times and haven't rooted anything, and I'm very much a novice when the side of the case is off.

Did you disconnect everything and re-connect like spook suggested? It only takes one connector or part not seated properly and it won't work. Often it is something pretty simple that prevents it from working properly.



last edited by mission at 16:24:54 13/Nov/08

Surely theres a QGL'er that'll sort out chubs issues for a cartoon?

I'd do it but im too busy for he next week.

Did you disconnect everything and re-connect like spook suggested? It only takes one connector or part not seated properly and it won't work. Often it is something pretty simple that prevents it from working properly.

Nop, I was wondering if I should do that or just bite the bullet and hand it in.

I was very careful, if I did f*** anything all I can say is f*** BUILDING COMPUTERS if they're that bloody weak.

Do it, you got nothing to lose.

ahh the joy of building your own PC...

you still got it in the case? that problem you're having is almost ALWAYS due to shorting the motherboard on the case. Also, it is very unliekly you've busted anything.

My money is on the RAM not being in correctly, or motherboard shorting. Take it out of the Box, fire it up.

So, any updates?

Like 2 went in perfectly, functioned exactly like they should... push and twist, locked in.

Wrong...

The clips turn to 2 positions, locked and unlocked.

To install the heatsink you have the pins in the locked position and just push the pins down which pop into the holes, there is no twisting at all during installation.

Twisting them to unlocked is only for removal of the heatsink.

It also also far easier to install the heatsink onto the mobo before mounting it in the chassis.


Were you careful placing the CPU into the socket? I have seen plenty of nube builders bend the socket pins being too rough and ruin the board.

Another retarded nube mistake I have seen various times... installing every single standoff in the chassis. Please tell me you have not done this...
Only the standoffs that line up with the holes in the motherboard should be installed.

You will either get lucky and short the board out stopping it powering on or fry something and brick the mobo.


Also you have got the 4 (or 8 on higher end boards) pin CPU power cable in right? You have the big 24 pin connector to the board but also the 4 pin cable up near the CPU, without that the board will not POST.


1) The heatsink is mounted correctly? This can stop it turning on...
2) Chassis standoffs are in the correct location?
3) 4 pin power connector is in?


Easiest thing to do would be to remove it from the chassis and have it sit on a table.

Motherboard + CPU + RAM + Video + PSU

Connect it up to a monitor and short the power pins with something metallic, screwdriver/pentip and see if you get any life.

Also you have got the 4 (or 8 on higher end boards) pin CPU power cable in right? You have the big 24 pin connector to the board but also the 4 pin cable up near the CPU, without that the board will not POST.

OKKKKKK

I do have the big 24 pin connector in but I have definitely not plugged in a 4 (or 8) pin power to the mobo.

EDIT: Just checked, there's a square 4 pin next to the CPU ;)

If that's the only problem, I want your babies rubba

BRB testing it :O:O:O

/fingers crossed

last edited by CHUB at 00:00:16 14/Nov/08

From the sounds of how old and crap your previous system was it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't have a 4 pin plug.

It caught me out a few times when I went from socket A systems to building intel systems.
Why is this motherf***er not posting... ohhhhh... *face palm*

POSTING FROM NEW PC!!!!

I f***ING LOVE YOU RUBBA!

Took my old SATA drive no problems, up and gaming!

RARRRRRRRR

RARRRRRRRR!

I hope you did a fresh install of windows on a formatted hdd?


also, how the f*** do you miss a 4 pin power connector.

lol

I hope you did a fresh install of windows on a formatted hdd?

Haha na, I just plugged it in.

It's REALLY not liking it, computer wants to give me an uppercut for putting it through misery.

Going to do the full format first thing in the morning. Can't get into a Steam game or do anything, comp isn't liking this HDD full of crap.

Plus I'm capped, so that makes it 10x worse.

also, how the f*** do you miss a 4 pin power connector.

Only ever done ram + video cards, never anything more, not even a HDD.

So yeah, I thought that big ass 24 pin connector just powered the entire motherboard.

I'm learning though ;)

iinet rocks though, still got a few gb offpeak, which is 2am - midday, so I got all morning with 8000k goodness.

last edited by CHUB at 00:55:46 14/Nov/08

Haha congrats man. s***, your old system must have been OLD not to have a cpu power connector!

At least you didn't break anything.

Just FYI the intel retention system bends the s*** out of the boards.

It's normal and when I first started building I couldn't believe how much it bent the boards around the socket.

Yeah when i built my system last, i though I was doing something wrong, with the board bending like a f***ing banana, f*** those stupid intel clips, surely they can make something better.

mmmmm onto the fresh 640gb HD now ;)

There's still a load little plugs floating around like "HD Audio" "AC97" and "1394" (which is firewire I believe?), but besides that I just need to tidy it up and recover all the case.

Next stop, 4850 for the win.

They will be plugs for the case front panel connectors for audio and yes you are correct firewire.

The funny thing is I was going to mention the fact that the mobo will have two power connectors.

The only reason I didn't is I really don't know s*** about putting them together and mine was an AMD, not intel, and I didn't want to suggest something that I had wasn't sure about.

Oh well, all sorted.

Told you it would be something basic!

AMD these days is the same, they all have additional CPU power connectors.

Been that way since the socket 939 systems.

Fair enough, but I don't know these things. I didn't want to lead him down the garden path.

Is that Un-QGL like?

CHUB, YTMND!

rubba, professional computer fixerer

This thread made for a good read. What a happy ending.

Haha CHUB, I can't believe you went in having no idea what to do.

Hey, tell us how good the video card is.

Haha CHUB, I can't believe you went in having no idea what to do.

Hey, tell us how good the video card is.

Yep, probably would have been worth having someone knowledgable helping, but I got there didn't I ;)

I actually haven't got the card yet, buying it in a week or so.

Does anyone know what type of increase I should expect going from a generic 8600GT (512mb) to a 4850?

At the moment I'm getting:

Team Fortress 2, 1024x - all high, 60fps no problem
Left 4 dead - 1024x - all med, 60fps / drops to 30 - 40 in massive firefights or big area's

EDIT: I might buy another 2gb of 800mhz kingston for $40 when I go to pick up the video card... dunno if I'll use it, but god ram is ridiculously cheap.

last edited by CHUB at 13:57:31 14/Nov/08

dont waste your money chubsy, waste of cash for extra ram:

if you have extra money put it towards your video card

4850 will dominate your s***ty 8600

Dude, up your res!

Does anyone know what type of increase I should expect going from a generic 8600GT (512mb) to a 4850?

A large increase.

I moved from an 8800GTS 640 to a 4850 and that was an improvement. No I didn't buy it I just had the chance to swap with a mate.

If you're running a 32bit OS/CPU remember that getting more than 3.5gig is waste. They can only use 4gig, which includes your vid cards ram.