What happens when a newbie builds his own computer???

[MIAaron]

They end up with lots of questions. :classic: Today I proved my search abilities are quite deficent. I'm a member on other forums that focus on other topics and I understand what it's like to put up with noob's. With that said I just want to say I appreciate you time and efforts in this thread.

Here is what I bought and have assembled:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Socket 939 Windows Compatible 64-bit Processor – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-463&depa=0

Seagate 200GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST3200822A-RK, Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-036&depa=0

Seagate 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Same as above just 160gb

ASPIRE X-Navigator Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with side window and 450W Power Supply, Model"ATXA9NW-BK/450" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-083&depa=0

M-AUDIO 7.1 Channel PCI Sound Card, Model "Revolution 7.1" -RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-121-101&depa=0

CORSAIR XMS Xtreme Memory Speed Series, Xtra-Low Latency 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 w/ Heat Spreader, Model TWINX1024-3200XL – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-522&depa=0

MSI "K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU –RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-468&depa=0

XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, Dual DVI, AGP 8X, Model "PVT43AND" –RETAIL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-080&depa=0

I understand sata and how it is faster than IDE, but I just stuck with what I knew. I'm not sure about RAID though. Daily it will be for my fiance's java web games and surfing, but on many weekends I will be bringing my work home and using a lot of CAD. I have read that raid 3 is good for CAD, but I'm not sure which is the best setup when it will be a web machine during the week. Any advice? Should I load the sata and raid drivers? Audio :firstlove is a MAJOR hobby of mine, so I got a lot of HD space cuz I will be putting a lot of 320kbs 192khz MP3's on this machine. Don't get me talking on audio, or I'll ramble.

I still have to figure out if I am running dual channel or not. I just figured out how to check with the "pause" button when the bios stats screen appears, but I havn't had a chance to check yet. One thing is in the bios it says my ram latency is 2. Shouldn't it say 2-2-2-5? From what I read before my purchase the corsair plug-n-frag worked pretty well with the m8n. Right now I am assuming this is my noobness showing.

Case temp sensors. Aspire says to tape the CPU sensor near the heatsink. Should I tape it TO the heatsink? If not, what is safe to tape to, and what kink of adhesive(tape, paste, etc) do you guys use? I am planning on using the same material to adhere to my hdd also, right on the motor. This one baffled the compusa guys....

Everything is installed and running smooth, with the exception of a LOT of web apps due to norton firewall. I still have to install the round IDE cables that came with the mobo and tiddy up the inside of the case but it's turned out to be pretty easy. I also still can't figure out WTH the "test report" manual that came with the mobo means. I wish I could say it's greek to me, but it's more like hieroglyphics

That's about all I can think of now. I'm going to try to search about Norton Firewall now, cuz so far I think it blows! lol Installing norton system works/firewall took my machine from seeming fast to just meeeh.

Thx everyone!

 

[True_Orb]

Sheesh dude, sounds like you know more than me, I hope my comp-building experience goes smoothly as yours!

 

[Codeine]

Did you say you arent sure if you have dual channel memory..? Because im almost positive that board has it.

 

[Apokalipse]

if you have 2 sticks of RAM in the right DIMM slot's it will automatically be set in dual channel; you may have to see your motherboard's manual to see exactly which DIMM slot's these are

your RAM is at 2-2-2-5 timings, even if the motherboard only shows the first latency speed (which is 2)

the temp sensors should be as close to the CPU or GPU core as you can get them; I've seen some where the sensor is just under the core, so that the cable runs between some of the pins, but I personally would put it under the heatsink just touching the core but not directly on it

I would say don't worry about the 'test report' since the computer is already up and running

personally I would ditch the Norton firewall and go for a different one; I use one called Look 'n' Stop lite which works pretty well, and it's free to download

 

[MIAaron]

Thx guys!

Yes I'm sure the board has dual channel. I did look in the mobo manual and did put the ram in the right slots, I just wanted to confirm it is running dual channel. Forgot to do that last night.

The same with the ram timings, how do I verify them? Or if I decide to OC later on, how do I check them? There has got to be a way.

I did read about putting the temp sensor under the core. But I also read that the 939 socket doesn't leave adequate room for the sensor. I guess I'll have to take the cpu out and look for room to snake it in. :sigh:

Also, what have you guys used for attaching the hd temp sensor to the hd? Just ordinary tape?

 

[Apokalipse]

you can download CPU-Z which tells you all your latencies, your exact CPU speed, cache, core and whatnot

for putting the sensor on the HDD, just use tape

 

[MIAaron]

Thank you.

Merry Xmas everyone! :classic: