Couple of Questions as a Newbie

[aceofjasons]

Hello. I'm pretty new to the computer building and hardware so please cut slack for me. Anyways first off I would like to list my specs. Not trying to brag here, nothing to be proud about trash.

DVD/CD Burner/Writer/Reader: ASUS Black 24X DVD+R

Note: I am worried about this because no where does it say for what operating system this is compatible with. Will this work with Windows 7?

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Note: I have absolutely NO idea if the parts will even fit in this case or not. Please direct me.

Seagate Barracuda 1TB

ASUS M4A79XTD EVO AM3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard



COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX635WFGIBOX

I already have a nVidia GeForce 9500 GT

Would these parts be compatible with each other?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Anyways, I was just going to go by the obok on isntalling these, but after reading some reviews on nasty things such as a fried mobo after not flashing to the latest BIOS BEFORE installing the CPu, etc, and the thermal paste being a little bad, I'm not so sure anymore. Ayn guide to install this?

for thermal pasting, should both the heatsink AND CPU have thermal paste on them? How do I apply it? Should I get an aftermarket ARtic thermal paste and just manually do it? Though I think that will be a pain the the arse because I would need to clean it off the processor and heatsink.

Should I flash my BIOS? I read a nasty review where one guy fried his mobo because it wasn't updated to the latest. Will it even be possible without first installing the CPU?\

My motherboard says it supports ATHLON II but not exactly ATHLON II x4, should I be worried? Does this mean I should flash the BIOS?

 

[Dngrsone]

Welcome.

When asking questions about hardware, you gotta specify what you've got, so don't worry about that. Nothing is more difficult that someone blowing in and asking a generic question without saying what equipment they are working with.

That processor should work in that motherboard and that motherboard should fit into that case. The RAM is a good choice as well.

I would recommend going with an aftermarket thermal paste such as Arctic Silver; my tube of Arctic Silver 5 has lasted me a good five years at least. You can clean the processor and heatsink with some isopropyl alcohol and then put just a dot (about the size of a rice grain) of thermal compound on the processor. that should be enough to cover the entire surface when the heatsink is applied. Too much thermal compound will actually inhibit heat transfer.

I would first find out what version of the firmware you have on the board and then see what changes were made in the later versions if you don't already have the latest installed before considering flashing the BIOS. Flashing is much safer now than it used to be, but any interruption in the process (such as, heaven forbid, a power outage) can and will ruin the motherboard.

Without reading the review myself and knowing the specific circumstances, this motherboard frying because it wasn't flashed up before installing the processor sounds like complete nonsense. You need a processor installed to flash the board anyway, and so I think somebody did something wrong when building their rig and they would rather attempt to trash the reputation of the board vendor than admit they made some kind of mistake.

 

[aceofjasons]

Welcome.

When asking questions about hardware, you gotta specify what you've got, so don't worry about that. Nothing is more difficult that someone blowing in and asking a generic question without saying what equipment they are working with.

That processor should work in that motherboard and that motherboard should fit into that case. The RAM is a good choice as well.

I would recommend going with an aftermarket thermal paste such as Arctic Silver; my tube of Arctic Silver 5 has lasted me a good five years at least. You can clean the processor and heatsink with some isopropyl alcohol and then put just a dot (about the size of a rice grain) of thermal compound on the processor. that should be enough to cover the entire surface when the heatsink is applied. Too much thermal compound will actually inhibit heat transfer.

I would first find out what version of the firmware you have on the board and then see what changes were made in the later versions if you don't already have the latest installed before considering flashing the BIOS. Flashing is much safer now than it used to be, but any interruption in the process (such as, heaven forbid, a power outage) can and will ruin the motherboard.

Without reading the review myself and knowing the specific circumstances, this motherboard frying because it wasn't flashed up before installing the processor sounds like complete nonsense. You need a processor installed to flash the board anyway, and so I think somebody did something wrong when building their rig and they would rather attempt to trash the reputation of the board vendor than admit they made some kind of mistake.

Haha, okay. I read that the processor I am using, AMD, does NOT recommend Arctic Silver and it will void the warranty. Would it be safe to use ARctic silver?

So anyways, do I just , after cleaning it free with 90%+ Rubbing Alcohol and lint free cloth, I would just put a rice sized paste onto the middle of the CPU and just immediately apply the heatsink over? Do I have to apply any to the heatsink? If so, how?

 

[Dngrsone]

If AMD does not want you to use Arctic Silver, then go with their recommendation. That one is new to me.

Just the little bit on the processor is all you need-- the thermal compound fills in the spaces between the processor and the heatsink where metal doesn't touch metal to ensure good heat transfer. Too much of the compound will prevent metal-metal contact and actually prevent good thermal transfer.