getting ready to build

[Monkey]

hey everyone, my pparts have finally arrived and i am going to start building tomorrow. but, I was wondering if there was anything I need to know about installing the CPU its an intel e7200 with stock heat sink and fan. I also am not to sure about setting the bios up will that be hard? And the last thing i wanted to ask is i am putting the hard drives in from my old computer and I was wondering if i need to do anything special to get my operating system to work or will my harddrives power up and just start working like nothing happened? ok.. i think that is everything and i hope i communicated it clearly.

thanks everyone

 

[Redmo0n]

Are you changing the motherboard? If not it should be fine.

BIOS is easy and you won't have to change anything except maybe personal preference things (Turning off logos at startup) and overclocking which you have to turn off Speedstep and C1E, and of course overclock.

 

[JoshSB]

Should not be difficult.

The one thing I would caution you about is the heatsink. All the computers I have ever built (about 5) the heatsinks are notorious for being VERY difficult to pull the little plastic arm down, it bends and makes you think your about to break it.

Just make sure (triple check) that it is down correctly and you should be fine.

 

[objecterror]

About the hard drives, one thing is certain, if your running the hard drives from your old rig you will have to install the os again if there going to be your primary drive. it's not safe to force your hard drive to work with the new hardware on your pc.

If you have some things your looking to keep, I'd suggest a quick partition of the system hard drive using partition magic or another program, moving your files and then installing the OS on the fresh partition.

If you have multiple hard drives, is there one you want to boot up first over the other? If so, check your bios and wire connections, if there IDE, there will be master and slave connections on the cable, if there SATA, then you can plug them both in, access your bios and change the order in which your hard drives boot up in.

Hope this helps, always check everything and ground yourself before touching the components in the case.

 

[Monkey]

So I will have to re-install my operating system..sad days. I got my OS from my school, and I rented out their disc..soo I am not sure about reinstalling it. But I will figure that out.

Thermal grease: I have some thermal grease from like 2 years ago when I build my comp the first time and I was wondering if I can still use it? It isn't anything special just a generic brand.

PSU: The PSU I currently have came with my computer case and it has been good to me ever since. But, a lot of the reviews say it sucks. So, What would be a good PSU for around $50 American? I would probably need a 450 500 Watt..

Here is a list of what I am putting in.

CPU: e7200
GPU: HD 4850
MOBO: BIostar p43
Ram: OCQ Platinum revision 2- 2 gig
HDD: 2
Optical Drive:

 

[Gustave5436]

So, What would be a good PSU for around $50 American?

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

 

[The Zune Guy]

So I will have to re-install my operating system..sad days. I got my OS from my school, and I rented out their disc..soo I am not sure about reinstalling it. But I will figure that out.:

What version of windows is it. You should be able toreactivate it over the phone up to a maximum of 3 times (unless its OEM in which case, unlimited). If its older than xp then it's time to upgrade mate!

Thermal grease: I have some thermal grease from like 2 years ago when I build my comp the first time and I was wondering if I can still use it? It isn't anything special just a generic brand. :

Iwouldn't chance it. Especially if you're overclocking. Buy this:
Newegg.com - Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
ot this,
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
can't remember which is better!

 

[veg1992]

Buy the TX-2 Tuniq paste, its way better than both

 

[Gustave5436]

Iwouldn't chance it. Especially if you're overclocking. Buy this:
Newegg.com - Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
ot this,
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Thermal Compound / Grease
can't remember which is better!

MX-2 is the better of the two

 

[The Zune Guy]

MX-2 is the better of the two

Ah,good to know