Building PC, anything I should know?

mp3guy

I'm building a pc part by part, anything i should before i start? Would there be any problem putting these parts together?

Case w/ 350w PSU
512Mb 400MHz DDR RAM PC3200
Motherboard: MSI PT8 NEO-V, VIA PT800, Socket 478, FSB800, max 3.06GHz
Seagate 7200RPM 80GB IDE
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz w/ HT
LG DVD-Combo Drive 52x32x52x16
ATI Radeon 9550SE 128MB AGPX8

Webmonkey

I see nothing wrong with your configuration there, just make sure its P4 478 but thats quite obvious.
If you are buying them parts, get a drive bigger than 80gb, you'll be kicking yourself after. You may think 80gig is Big enough but you'll soon find out its not when you begin to use it. (Especially when you begin burning DVD images)
Though a 350watt PSU would run your PC, i would highly consider a 400W + one, you may get freezes and unexpected shut downs otherwise. You can pick a PSU for around 30 euro or less, This will be an increased expense I know as you're getting it with your Case.
Might be forgetting a modem there as well, easy to forget just a reminder.
Besides that I don't know what else to say to you - Oh yes do get Terminal Compound to place between heatsink and chip to decrease temperatures. With a 3Ghz its a definate.

Good luck with it.

Webmonkey

ozmo

mp3guy wrote:

512Mb 400MHz DDR RAM PC3200

Not totally necessary - but if you get memory in two pieces matched you can get it to run in parallel - giving you 800Mhz.About the same price if not cheaper - downside is you limit an upgrade in future as you use up both your ram slots.

KM

Make sure the case is big enough to allow plenty of airflow. I spent ages myself trying to sort out a problem with a PC i built shutting down. I discovered it was an overheating problem and it took a while to find that out, the only remedy was to get a decent sized case. If your motherboard comes with monitoring software install it!! (Monitors the heat, fans etc).

I am not an expert so this could be all blatantly obvious (to everyone but me!!)

mp3guy

i already have an 80GB and its fine.. i'll be networking it with this comp, so thats 160gb shared. I'm on a tight enough budget, so i'll stick with the 350w for now. I might go higher when i start overclocking. Yup, its a 478 P4. Why put thermal compound between the heatsink?

Webmonkey

Unfortuntally that board doesn't support Dual DDR. Max of 2Gigs, only two slots.

Webmonkey

mp3guy wrote:

i already have an 80GB and its fine.. i'll be networking it with this comp, so thats 160gb shared. I'm on a tight enough budget, so i'll stick with the 350w for now. I might go higher when i start overclocking. Yup, its a 478 P4. Why put thermal compound between the heatsink?

Keeps it cooler. Thus stops freezing. You can go without it but for such a simple thing you might as well do it. Makes big difference

mp3guy

ok... so i put in the cpu, thermal compound it, heatsink it, fan it, and thats all?

Webmonkey

Yes thats exactly it. Make sure to cover the full square top of the CPU as if theres a gap left then its no use.
By the way don't forget to screw in the heatsink holder from bottom of board before you put board in. Its damn annoying unscrewing a board and taking it back out. I keep forgetting this!

Webmonkey

mp3guy

heatsink holder..... is that the black think around the socket? I think its already on my board... and btw, i have a ... 7/8 year old 80mm fan. Should i bother or could it die anyday?

Webmonkey

The Chip will come with its own heatink with FAN built in

mp3guy

i know, but i mean for the case.

Webmonkey

Yeah sure why not. It's easy to take back out if it breaks.

mp3guy

i'm worried if it goes when i'm not around,,, and stuff burns

Random

Have a look @ http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/ before and during the build

Ciaran500

Be carful what PSU you buy. 350watt is more than enough but only if the PSU is a reliable make.

You do not need to cover the whole CPU when putting the cooler on: http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions_big2.htm

You should buy a new 80mm fan, I doubt your old one will last much longer. Noise levels under 20db are considered "silent" and only produce a low hum.

BloodBath

i'm worried if it goes when i'm not around,,, and stuff burns

Nothing will burn just because an 80mm fan fails. Practically all modern processors have in build protection to prevent them from frying. They will slow down or shut down if they get too hot.

If your building a gaming system get an a64.


BloodBath

mp3guy

I'm building a system mostly for net and multimedia, that's why i'm getting a P4

BloodBath

Good choice then


BloodBath

Sidane

Like a couple of other users, my only concern would be the PSU. 350w will run that rig ok, but it doesn't leave much room for future expansion if you want to bang in more ram, another drive, a more powerful video card, extra PCI cards etc.

The PSU is the heartbeat of your entire system, don't skimp on it.

kasintahan

350W is twice what you need. Seriously. If there was even a decent 250 watt in there then I still wouldn't be worried.

Intel spec a 300W/350W or higher to COVER THEIR ARSES.
There are lots of really poor PSU's out there and they're the ones Intel is thinking of.


PS the thermal compound goes on the HS as as thin a layer as possible.
Though the performance of the compound his doesn't matter too much with the heat spreaders on the new P4's.