Desktop Computer

[gr8fl4porsche]

The beauty of building your own box is that it is near impossible to get it wrong.

Most cables only fit in one location and everything is nicely labeled. The labels may be small but they are there.

Hard drives get a power cable like you mentioned (about an inch wide) and the data cable which is abou 1/2 inch with a little metal clip on it.

The other connections are jumpers of which you most likely do not need any.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

no - I found it - they are smaller than I remember (which means I'm getting old...) and it was "hidden" behind the fan

case = Pixxo CX-5C59 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case


for others doing this:

newegg has a a facility to get info on the components, many of which come with no instructions:
go to My Account; open it and select your recent order, open that; and click on the side of the component you are trying to figure out; go to:
Manufacturer Product Page or one of the other things

right now, I'm trying to determine what cables to plug into the back of the WD Caviar HDD
- it has to want a power cable (attached to the power supply) and an information cable (Serial ATA I'd guess, which is about 1 cm wide and yellow).

the HDD has other connections on it too - I dunno if they are duplicative or need some other cables

The MB should have come with data cables. The power supply should have flat cables which connect to the disk drive. If not, then you need an adapter cable, which are about $1 each, which convert the old 4 pin to the flat cable.

[red-beard]

See here

Newegg.com - OKGEAR 8" SATA Power Cable Model GC8ATA22

[RWebb]

Thanks - I think the power supply has the right cables (SATA power cables) and also has the legacy big round pin type cables to boot.

I just want to be sure on this stuff before I blow a bunch of Benjamins up in smoke...


I screwed the HDD into the case & stuck a SATA data cable on it - 4 screws tho there are holes for 6; should be solid enuff I guess.

Next up - CPU and motherboard.

But first, I think I'll go give my old IPhone and $75 to Radio Shack. They are running a "promotion" which likely means a new iPhone is coming out (I wonder if it will work to make phone call with this time?).

[red-beard]

Put the CPU & heatsink into the MB before you install it into to the case. It is usually easier.

[red-beard]

Sorry for the bad formatting. I'm trying out the handwriting recognition

[RWebb]

Thx -

[1] the fan/heat sink can go in to two different orientations on the AMD Phenom CPU they are 180o from each other. I put the fan/heat sink on so the power leads were closest to their connector on the motherboard - hope that will be ok (?)

[2] the DDR3 RAM modules can fit into various combinations of the memory slots on the motherboard. From the instruction booklet it seemed like A1 and B! were the ones to use (they are at the top of the list in the table they give). Do you know if that is the correct way to add them?

[RWebb]

BTW - I am impressed by the gigantic cooling/fan module - looks like a small nuke plant with copper heat pipes as well as heat sinks wrapping all over the place...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Thx -

[1] the fan/heat sink can go in to two different orientations on the AMD Phenom CPU they are 180o from each other. I put the fan/heat sink on so the power leads were closest to their connector on the motherboard - hope that will be ok (?)

[2] the DDR3 RAM modules can fit into various combinations of the memory slots on the motherboard. From the instruction booklet it seemed like A1 and B! were the ones to use (they are at the top of the list in the table they give). Do you know if that is the correct way to add them?

#1 is correct.

#2 I usually put them in side by side in the lowest numbered slots. There are certain memory types of really fast memory that you only put into certain slots. I don't think I had you buy that stuff, as it is usually about $75-100/GB and usually are using 4GB modules.

[RWebb]

2 CPU tips for others:

AMD's instruction sheet is not the easiest thing in the world for a novice to follow - you will need to determine the socket type of your CPU to find out which sequence of instructions to follow -- look around for it on the top of the box

either take a digital pic of the s/n on the box or, better, sit it on your scanner & use Adobe to do OCR on it so you'll have something more than just an image

[RWebb]

Thanks again, James!

[red-beard]

Did the CPU heat sink have a silver circle on it? That is the heat sink compound that helps move the heat from the CPU to the heat sink. All of the ones I've built have had the heat transfer compound on them. I bought a tube of the better compound, just in case.

[red-beard]

Also, make sure you lift the little arm BEFORE you install the CPU on the MB.

[RWebb]

Yup - the arm was in the instructions. I'll add that it has a small lock on it once you push it down.

there was a gray square which I figured was the heat Xfer compound

AMD swears they will void your warranty if you use the "better" stuff (I also would not want too thick a coat) - I may have some lying around, but to be honest I have not messed with building anything since I was a post-doc... and that was so long ago the 'grease' I have is probably like putting wooden cart wheels on a new C-GT.

BTW - another tip: the locking arm on the heat sink/fan unit was difficult to pull over

again, their instructions are vague but it appears they are saying that the CPU is already coated - anyway, it's on to the video card now...

[RWebb]

Should I mount the video card on the motherboard before I put it in the computer case? i.e. what is likely to be easier?

This case has limited access compared to some I see in DIY build threads; OTOH, there is the back connector to eff with...

[red-beard]

No. Do the Video card after installing the MB. BUT put the little template for the back part of the computer in first, before mounting the motherboard. Usually they sort of snap into place. They mount from the inside.

[RWebb]

Thx - I have a 5-7 pm gig, but may read up on how to put the M-board in the case when I get back.

I'm curious about whether you just use some of the screws that came with the case or if there are supposed to be standoffs, washers, whatever (?) - seems odd to just use cheap screws on something that important...

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Thx - I have a 5-7 pm gig, but may read up on how to put the M-board in the case when I get back.

I'm curious about whether you just use some of the screws that came with the case or if there are supposed to be standoffs, washers, whatever (?) - seems odd to just use cheap screws on something that important...

There should be brass standoffs in with the screws. If not, it will use plastic standoffs.

[RWebb]

I found 2 small metal (could be coated brass) standoffs in the case's "package O'screws" - not sure why there aren't 4 of them...

a search thru a desk drawer turned up some more just like those.

Guess what other junk was in there? hp 41C case; old VGA card; 80287 math chip; hp71B translator module, a bunch of plug in ROM modules for an hp series 80 desktop computer; some data tapes... I should start a museum.

[RWebb]

also, Apple 16 stickers (newer OS for the Apple II, IIRC)

IBM XT/AT Quikref card, dBase II card; battery pack for the original hp hand calculator

Luckily, there are NO punch cards, line mode terminal instruction sheets or LISP programming manuals. Now, I'll just make a run to the electronics recyling ctr. and leave the past behind.