PC Builder Total Newbie...

[ponders]

allright and how do Hexers' !

as the title says i am a complete novice and what i know about building a pc from scratch i have gathered from the web and books, i've read the guide that was started back in 2005 (by Stewart) and it was helpfull but i still have a couple of basic questions that i cant find, so if anyone can please...,

at the moment i'm thinking of going core2duo, i think im right in saying these CPUs' come supplied with a hink sink, and since i'm not really going for overclocking, the standard heat sink will suffice (as in the '05 guide), but is a thermal paste also supplied with the package?

On the gigabyte Mobo i'm planning to use, it specifies one system fan and one CPU fan, this is worrying cause does this mean that i can only have one case fan?!

Quality wise, are CRT screens better than DVI TFTs', i can understand the aesthetic appeal of LCD, but if a cheaper and higher quality alternative takes up more space i'd rather go for that. i had my i on Samsung SM 940bf 19''.

I gather that an anti static enviroment, i.e. work top is needed to prevent ruining the componants, with a wristband tied to a plug (?) that can carry the charge away. Any tricks here would be helpfull coz i really cant afford a table (£50!).

thanks in advance,

P.s ....Got milk?

[danroyle]

first yes paste is normally on the hsf with the cpu

the motherboard fan thing means the board can only monitor two fans or have 2 plugged into most fans come with 4 pin molex adaptors so you can put as many as you like in via the psu

lastly yes antistatic enviroment is supposed to be needed but nearly all cases are grounded by the interiror framework so when you are installing components it is best to have a part of your body touching the framework ideally a hand firmly on it or personally i wear shorts and kneel on the case to ground myself although have bulit 20+ pc's and don't always remember and have never killed one yet

also yes crt is better quality but tft is getting better each day if you have the space a real good crt would do the trick also crt generally have higher resolutions too


hope this helps

p.s cow is on route get your own milk

[nvening]

Some people like CRTs for gaming because of early tfts being bad for gaming and causing ghosting (not true now), and some for photos/ graphics because unless you spend thousands they dont display as accurate colours.

However everyone else uses TFTs and most of the gamers/ graphics people have or are making the change because tfts are better.

[harry1]

agreed i was skeptical about getting a tft but i bought an lg flatron 17 and its far better than my crt, and when using the dvi its great, really big difference from vga imo

[MSIC]

As a fairly reasonable half-way house, Komplett to a PC Builder thing which is quite flexible. For me the biggest 2 issues are 1) i like doing it myself and 2) they dont offer aftermarket HSF's.

I note that you said that you didnt want anything but the standard Intel HSF, but there are at least 2 good reasons to go for something like an Arctic Cooler (for about 13 quid or something!) - reduced heat (and therefore better for the CPU) and lower noise (providing you dont get some super-noise case fans to drown it out anyway).

As for TFT's, i changed from a Sony Trinitron (generally regarded as being a good CRT) to my Dell TFT, and i do not regret it for one moment. I do video editing, play games and watch DVDs.

[ponders]

Wear shorts ?? i have a pair of swimming trunks!
seriously though, if it works for an experienced builder then im definatly giving it a go.

still i little confused about the fans, if the jist of it is i can use more than one case fan but need to get a 4 pin adapter then nice.

i read a review of the gigabyte mobo somwhere that said its heat displacement plate on the reverse might make it dificult to fix some HSF, i really hate wasting money so if i bought an extra one it's have to be after i actuallly see the mobo set out, but thanks for the point, if i decide to i'l definatly consider that one, made so many changes to the shopping list !!

TFT is it then . was hoping you'd say that

( ....Got Milk ?!?)

[harry1]

well yeh depending on how many fans yo have just buy some adapters, i doubt the motherboard issue will prove that difficult.
and as for the static its very rare for anything to happen at all but just be carefull, you dont want to be the first.

p.s stop saying got milk it sounds really gay.

[maverick77_uk]

Hi there,

The MoBo usually support 2 fans via small plugs - usually the CPU fan and one case fan (correct small pin plug depending). This means the Mobo measures speed etc and ensures they are on. As previously stated, you can connect other fans via the 4-pin molex connector, so don't worry - whatever you get can be powered somewhere.

CPU's - the processors-in-a-box (ie "retail") come with heasink fan and paste. OEM CPU's are the CPU only. Just make sure its the full retail product and not an OEM.

Monitors - I used a modern TFT - getting on slightly now with 16ms response time but have no problem with fast FPS games, so I would't worry. I've heard that anything 16ms and below response is fine and won't have any problem in games (I think pretty much all new flatscreens nowadays).

Anti-static - I've built several systems and I leave the case pluged in (but the socket switch off!) and just touch the case regularly to ensure I ave no static charge. Not had a problem yet! (Final last words), however, I guess a wristband would make life easier, although probably not essential as long as you're careful.

See ya!

[harry1]

maverick77 uk

most motherboards dont support two fans.. mine supports four including the cpu fan
most support three

[ponders]

thanks guys for the info, i'm being a pain i know but i need more help!!
this time with the graphics card.

its a 256MB Sapphire Radeon X1900 GT PCI-E (x16) 1200MHz GDDR3
i've read reviews and bechmarks and what not, but i cant find if it has a s-video in. i found this on a site:


"This included a standard 6-ft S-Video cable, a composite video cable, and two DVI-to-VGA adapters along with a splitter for connecting the card to an HD-TV's components inputs, and another adapter equipped with S-Video and composite video inputs and outputs. "

it's the part at the end saying another adapter comes supplied.
i'd like to assume that this means i can connect an s-video to the card and get a display on the screen (with the right software), but we all know what happens when we ass-ume (!!!)

i really am gratefull for the help by the way, i tried to answer a similar question on a different thread, but to no avail!

[Lakeuk]

Reading the review below it mentions s-video in/out for that card and there's also a photo of the cables you get

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...x1900gt/2.html

The static the chances are low but you don't want the following to happen so don't wear any jumpers

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=19779

[amjedm]

The static the chances are low but you don't want the following to happen so don't wear any jumpers

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=19779

Scary

I've bought some cheapie (£1 each) rubber mats and sit on these when building PC. Still have to discharge yourself first though.

[ponders]

i'll invest in a 5 blade gilette and the safest would be to make it in the buff i gather !!
nice links, thanks guys !!!




4/10.06 have decided to go for a 15" crt and the pentium d thingy in the end !
big change but but budget demands it , dammit !!