Handy things for people toknow in PC building

[Zak33]

I'll start:

If you are trying to get thrmal goo/glop/paste off a cpu or a heatsink, in order to re-apply nice Silver Arctic or similar, a handy thing to use to scrape in safety is: An old CD...the edge....even cut it up with scissors....and use the outter edges. Its great. and its a good hardness and not a scratch danger

[Agent]

Grab a Tesco club card at the checkout and use that

[Jiff Lemon]

Jeff's handy hint:

If your building a windows PC, you can user the setup manager (found in the support\deploy.cab on your windows CD) to create a setup disc that Mimics your current setup.

Means you can wander off and leave windows to it.

[steve threlfall]

Steves handy hint:

Dont be a tight when forking out for memory

[Shorty]

Shorty's tip...

Get an antistatic wrist strap and lead to earth yourself. If you can't get one, then at the very least, touch the metal side of your case to discharge any static you might have. Do this before you start poking around inside your case

[Tesla]

Tesla's Tip Time!

If you have just built a pc and it will not power on check that the clear cmos jumer is set to "not clear" or "off". A common occurance is it being set to clear cmos when the board is shipped.

[chrisf6969]

Remember unplug PSU and press power once to make sure there's no juice left in the PSU. I know someone who shorted out there mobo inserting ram b/c PSU still had juice even though it had been unplugged a few seconds before.

[Bindibadgi]

Bindi's Tip:

Cant beat a good set of screw drivers, small screwdriver, scissors, needle nosed plyers, dremel (optional), wire stripper and a soldering iron!

[fondie]

read the instructions ?

[Bindibadgi]

Originally posted by fondie
read the instructions ?

LMAO... no where's the fun in that?

[Nick]

Deckards tip :

Test mount everything on the mobo before mounting the mobo in the case. Its a lot easier knowing how to fit eveything once your working within the confines of the case.

[petrefax]

ben's tip

if your front panel usb connectors are separate connectors for each wire (as is the case with most lian li cases) once you've worked out the correct order (and tested it <--- important point!) superglue em together to save the hassle of doing it all again

[megah0]

#1. Plan where you are going to run your cables before actually installing them, having tidy cables not only makes the whole thing look much nicer (particularly in a windowed case) but will allow a much greater amount of airflow around your expensive components.

#2. Don't skimp on the case if you can possibly avoid it, those cheap ebuyer cases might look attractive (some of them anyway) but they are not worth the hassle, the fascias are very prone to breaking and they are about as thick as 3 layers of tinfoil.

#3. Use the correct tools for the job in hand, if you strip the head of the screw it can be a bitch to remove. Screwdriver sets are not expensive and a well thought out toolkit as mentioned above will save you lots of cursing. A magnetic screw retriever is a must as is a pair of tweezers for removing small fiddly jumpers.

#4. The words cheap and nasty are synonomous. Get the best components for your budget even if this means reducing the number of features eg an antec 400W PSU instead of a Qtec 550W psu, especially if you plan to overclock.

erm thats it for now

[Jonny M]

Originally posted by petrefax
ben's tip

if your front panel usb connectors are separate connectors for each wire (as is the case with most lian li cases) once you've worked out the correct order (and tested it <--- important point!) superglue em together to save the hassle of doing it all again

What if you change board?

Just use black electrical tape wrapped around the whole assembly.

[acidrainy]

Originally posted by Caged
What if you change board?

Just use black electrical tape wrapped around the whole assembly.

I think the layout is generic..... cooler master cases come with the front pins in a single attachment rather than single pins.....

im sure they would only take a move if the pin layout is... erm.... generic

[spikegifted]

spike's tip:

Before you blow what little money you've left from buying all the parts on the cheapest generic tower casing, think about airflow. You may have the best parts in the world, they can still overheat.