49 replies to this topic

[Chappy]

Oh one more thing.
When installing an Intel CPU you have to be weary of the pins on the motherboard socket.
I accidentally dropped my CPU sideways onto the socket once and bent one of the pins. Had to replace the socket.

[Spellslinger Leah]

Is there a Micro center near you? I would suggest going there, as they sell the same stuff but for less than newegg or amazon.

[Kaaos-CoS]

MOAR RAMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Direwulff]

If you want to be safe as mentioned about betting a grounding strap for antistatic.  otherwise you touch you case or powersupply frequently to remain static free.  Just them if you move around much. Also the biggest pain is the pinout for the wires like power light hdd light and whatnot.  just follow the directions in the manual of the motherboard.  Aside from static issues and making sure you have all your fans connected there is not much you can do to really mess it up that can't be fixed.

There are mixed thoughts on magnetic screwdrivers.. .they make things easier but you are putting a magnet near your hard drive.. which is bad.  I tend to use one as i figure it is very light magnetic field and I just keep it away from my hard drive.

Also if you are using thermal paste on your processor make sure NOT to put too much on.  It only needs a VERY thin layer.. too much can cause heat build up.  I also recomend buying extra fans if your case has slots for them but doesn't come with them.  When you buy the fans look for ones that have lower decibal ratings and are quieter.. usually larger fans are better.  


Lastly I tend to overpurchase on my powersupply.  Having extra power never hurts but having not enough can cause big issues.   Sometimes you will have enough now but later upgrade your graphics card and then have too little.


Good luck

[Chappy]

People often purchase waay too much on their power supply.

I have a power meter on my PC and it never goes above 450 watts usage.
This is what i am running:
Core i7 930 overclocked to 4GHz. (corrected the clock speed lol)
3x2gb of RAM
Geforce GTX 680
3 Platter HDD's
2x 80mm fans
8x 120mm fans
2x water cooling pumps
1x water cooling control unit

Your average gaming PC should expect to use about 400-420 watts under load.

[The Ugly Ducky]

yeah, i guess i was worried because it was bronze and that i wouldn't be getting that many watts out of it exactly.

parts just arrived now also, can't wait to start!

[Janus Bloodrunner]

Oh and don't be discouraged if it doesn't boot on your first try. Just work backwards calmly and try to figure out what is missing. I've had to take it all apart and put it all back together just to find that I hadn't put the power switch connected in the right spot lol.

[Chappy]

The #1 rule of building a new PC is: "a closed case never boots"
Keep your case open on the first boot because there is a good chance you will have to open and tinker with it a couple of times before it works right.

Some clues for likely problems are.
"Nothing happens when power switch is pressed" - check the power switch is properly connected to the MB and make sure your power supply switch is set to I and not O.

"PC makes a loud *beep* noise and screen does not turn on" - check that you have connected the CPU power plug to the socket on the MB next to the CPU. If this is connected, check that all RAM and video card's are properly seated on the MB.

"PC gets past POST but won't boot" - make sure all hard drives have power and are connected to a SATA port.
If you are trying to install Windows with a CD, check the SATA connection from your disk drive and make sure they have power.

Any issues feel free to give a detailed description of your problem here and we will help.

DO NOT PANIC

Everybody has trouble on their first go. Take your time building the PC and use the process of elimination when fixing the problem.
If you are stumped, run through the steps you have taken and double check you haven't missed something.

[The Ugly Ducky]

Okay, like expected, it didn't start first try.

Basically I'm hitting the switch on the power supply but nothing is happening. At all. Tried pushing power button on motherboard too. And the case power button. (While the power supply was "on").

Not sure what I've done wrong here.

Basically here is everything I've done-

-Installed CPU
-Installed CPU fan with thermal compound, plugged cord in to CPU fan slot on mobo.
-Installed RAM into correct slots. (1st and 3rd)
-Opened Case
-Screwed power supply into correct position in case
-Put motherboard backplate in
-Installed standoffs
-Put motherboard in
-Screwed motherboard into standoffs
-Snapped hard drive and optical drive into their respective places
-Put SATA cables and power supply into optical drives and hard drives
-Connected the HD audio cord to the motherboard
-Connected the relatively large blue USB cord coming from top of case into motherboard
-Plugged the EPS/ATX12v 8 pin into correct socket above CPU
-Plugged the 24 pin ATX power cord into correct motherboard slot
-Plugged in the PLED +/-, HD LED, and the 2 PWR on and reset buttons into the correct slots indicated by my motherboard manual.
-Plugged in power supply
-Switched to "I"
-Nothing happens

Yes the case was open, and yes I tried pressing the case power button and motherboard button which also yielded no results. Do you guys see anything I did wrong here? I've been trying to figure it out all night with my brother but we can't seem to come to a conclusion.

At first I thought it was a dead power supply; but I do hear some sort of vibration emitting from the power supply, when it's on, if I put my ear close to it.

[Chokladkakan]

Try to narrow it down: you only need a CPU, RAM and power connected to the motherboard for it to start. Plug in a monitor to some output on your motherboard and see if you get any sort of response at all. It might also be worth testing with only one of your two RAM sticks at a time, in case one is defunct.

Do you have any other power supply from some other computer you know to be good?

[Janus Bloodrunner]

Make sure ur positive and negative values match up on the power switch connector. They have to go in a specific way and aren't interchangable. Also I've misread where the LED and SWTCH connectors go.  Also, make sure u have the 4-pin power connector hooked up cuz it wasn't on ur list. It should be up on top near the cpu and usually opposite the 24-pin power connector. Most mobos have them nowadays. If you don't have a 4-pin you can use a 6-pin using the 4right that fit and u should be fine.

[The Ugly Ducky]

Chokladkakan, on 23 January 2013 - 12:41 PM, said:

Try to narrow it down: you only need a CPU, RAM and power connected to the motherboard for it to start. Plug in a monitor to some output on your motherboard and see if you get any sort of response at all. It might also be worth testing with only one of your two RAM sticks at a time, in case one is defunct.

Do you have any other power supply from some other computer you know to be good?

Well I did have a monitor plugged in, but didn't get any response. ( through HDMI).

And no sadly I don't have any other power supplies. =/

[Janus Bloodrunner]

Got a buck says its the 8-pin power connector.

[The Ugly Ducky]

Janus Bloodrunner, on 23 January 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:

Make sure ur positive and negative values match up on the power switch connector. They have to go in a specific way and aren't interchangable. Also I've misread where the LED and SWTCH connectors go.  Also, make sure u have the 4-pin power connector hooked up cuz it wasn't on ur list. It should be up on top near the cpu and usually opposite the 24-pin power connector. Most mobos have them nowadays. If you don't have a 4-pin you can use a 6-pin using the 4right that fit and u should be fine.

Hmm 4 PIN?? I do have a connector that is 4 pin which is called "PERIPHERAL CABLE" on my corsair box.

[Janus Bloodrunner]

http://images17.newe...7-304-Z03?S300W$

On the top there is an 8-pin cpu power connector. I meant u can use two 4-pin power connectors if you don't have an 8. The 4-pin is the old cpu power connector standard sorry.

The "using 4 out of 6 on a 6-pin" trick is how u get newer psu's to work on older boards.

[The Ugly Ducky]

Janus Bloodrunner, on 23 January 2013 - 01:18 PM, said:

http://images17.newe...7-304-Z03?S300W$

On the top there is an 8-pin cpu power connector. I meant u can use two 4-pin power connectors if you don't have an 8. The 4-pin is the old cpu power connector standard sorry.

The "using 4 out of 6 on a 6-pin" trick is how u get newer psu's to work on older boards.

oh, yeah, I already have that plugged in.

I'm thinking i'm just gonna take everything out and only use what i need to try and test boot it.

[The Ugly Ducky]

Welp, so I took everything out, connected the 8 pin and 24pin only, left the RAM and cpu cooler on, everything started up normally....motherboard started flashing on when i flipped the switch

[Janus Bloodrunner]

Ok now plug in your gfx card and see if it turns on. Make sure u plug in the power to your gfx card as well.  If it turns on then connect your HDD.  Hopefully it will all turn on tho.

[Chokladkakan]

Janus Bloodrunner, on 23 January 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:

Make sure ur positive and negative values match up on the power switch connector.

That's not strictly speaking true: the power switch only completes a circuit, the polarity doesn't matter. If it did you wouldn't be able to start the computer by connecting the two power pins with a screwdriver.

[Janus Bloodrunner]

Chokladkakan, on 23 January 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

That's not strictly speaking true: the power switch only completes a circuit, the polarity doesn't matter. If it did you wouldn't be able to start the computer by connecting the two power pins with a screwdriver.

Just read it and confirmed that it doesnt matter which for the switch but it does for the LED's.