wowguy
12-19-2008, 03:09 PM
I am upgrading from a Dell Inspiron 9300 (circa 4/2005) with a Pentium 3 1.8GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA 256MB GPU 100GB HD, DVD/CD burner. Playing WoW , I managed to burn out a set of RAM and the Ultra Sharp 17" monitor.
Here is the creature I created (I did not need to get a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or sound card (went with the onboard audio and it is really good), or modem (I use LAN) (well followed the instructions and just tightened some screws! LOL)!
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 2.53 GHz (the recommended one, which I go to find out after installing it, and checking for compatibility with Vista Ultimate 64-bit, that this chip not only is good, it is tough, and it can be overclocked (if that is your thing) easily and securely)
Gigabyte GA x48 DS4 (the recommended one)
Zalman CNPS9700LED / Artic Silver 5 (it is the newer version of the recommended one, and gets great reviews)
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB DDR3 (recommended one)
3GB Crucial Ballistix 1024MB PC2-8500 DDR2 (I am currently running a temporary XP install. I will be upgrading to Vista Ultimate, as the retail XP Professional is not cost effective in my opinion)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 7200rpm SATA 300 MB/s
Sony NEC Optiarc 20x IDE DVD RW/CDRW (Black)
Cooler Master 690 Case
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W PSU
I did go a different way with the CPU cooler, case and power supply. My reasoning is that I use a LOT of USB gadgets (Logitech cordless laser mouse, cordless keyboard, Nostromo N52 game pad, and a dorky headset for Ventrillo), and when looking at some of the free online power calculators I was coming out around 480W usage, so I went for a larger PSU, a newer CPU cooler, and case with more fans because I play a LOT and for long periods at a time.
First thoughts:
I read over Rob's site, many times, and with the thought previously in my head to build my own comp (totally to save $), I was sold that this is what I needed to do. I get the same impression about Rob, that I do from the developer and upkeeper of the UI I use for WoW. They do this because they like to, and they go about their developments with a tremendous amount of thought, and they support their work, not only by citing reasons why they make their choices, but they keep up to date on their forums to continue to help us strangers.
So I took Rob's recommended list, and did my own research, checking out multiple sites with reviews (and if you like I can edit in the links I used), and made my decisions on what I was going to put together. When I decided to enlarge my case, PSU and CPU cooler, I was not sure they would all fit, so I ordered the case, PSU, and motherboard first. I knew how much room I would need for the Zalman 9700, so I simply got the case and motherboard (I kept it in the antistatic bag) and measured with a ruler. Everything looked fine with room to spare, so I ordered the rest of it. Oh, I found the case and PSU I wanted as a combo through Newegg for $170.
I mounted the CPU and Zalman without a problem, installed the motherboard into the case without a problem. Same for the graphics card (which is a MONSTER!!!!!!) The graphics card takes up two slots (not so much of a problem on the Gigabyte MoBo as they are spaced out very well) not only inside, but outside as well (you must remove two of the card slot covers on the back of your case, or the GPU will not mount correctly).
I hooked up the power supply, following Rob's instructions and the included user manual. On my first boot I had a problem, my cpu cooler would come on for a second or two and then shut off. I double checked the power connection, reread the manual and it still did not work correctly, nor did the fan on the graphics card. I thought I had a faulty PSU, it happened, as per my reading on both of the pieces I ordered. I contact Newegg to RMA the power supply, but because it was a combo deal, I had to return both the case and power supply, leaving me with a motherboard with a gigantic V-8 sized fan on it and now where to store it!
Edit: 1/09/2009
Sorry this has taken me so long to get back to, but Monkey you are correct, I missed (in the several times I read the PSU manual that I needed to connect the second wire to my MoBo. In the case of the Gigabyte, it was a 6-pin, installed in the upper left corner of the MoBo (as you look down at it during the installation).
Once I corrected this mistake, the first boot went perfectly.
The next step (as I recall) was to hook up the hard drive, dvd/cd drive, and speakers. Following the instructions, this went smoothly as well. My second boot went just as well as the first. One thing to note here is that with the Gigabyte MoBo, it seemed to do a lot of the BIOS setup automatically. Specifically, as soon as I went into the BIOS, my hard drive and DVD drive were automatically recognized. Pretty much all of the menus are very different than the screenies in Rob's install directions, but that is where the MoBo manual comes in, and most everything was easy enough to find.
I did not install a floppy drive, but I did put in a memory card reader, and after reading up on the one I chose, I did not install the memory card reader until after I installed my operating system.
I installed a temporary Windows XP OS (I had a Vista Ultimate on order. I first checked online to make sure all of my connected hardware (printer, keyboard, mouse) had vista ultimate 64bit drivers available before choosing to run Vista Ultimate in 64bit mode) just to go through the process, and once I put the disk in, everything involved in this process went smoothly as well (just as the Rob's directions outlined). One thing to note, is that with this Gigabyte Mobo, it has it's own system recovery, independent of any GoBack or windows restore, but it requires that you assign some "uncategorized" HD space. The Manual recommends 10GB, I intended to make mine 20, but after the XP install and the Vista Ultimate install, I managed to not keep some Hard Drive space as "uncategorized". When Installing the Vista Ultimate, I wiped my hard drive and started from scratch, just so I could keep some "uncategorized" space, and I thought that I had accomplished this, but I messed up somewhere.
I had a problem when it came to all of the testing programs. I had previously downloaded them and burnt them to their own separate CDs, but I could not get any of them to run, so I skipped this part of the installation.
After the Vista was installed, I ran the chipset disk that came with my Motherboard, and installed all those drivers. Then I installed the Video card drivers off of the disk that came with the videocard.I then went online, installed AVG virus software, and made sure my Windows firewall was on. I then downloaded all of the updated drivers for my connected hardware.
Next I went to Windows and downloaded all the updated security and functionality patches, and installed them.
At this point I connected the power connectors to the usb, firewire, esata plugs the are on the CM690 case, and the memory card reader. I did not experience any problems with this process either. Now that I think of it, I have yet to test the memory card reader, ooops!
I also have not done a BIOS flash update, which the Gigabyte MoBo has two options, either one with Windows running, or one at startup, before Windows loads.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Despite this process taking me the better part of a week (with all of my mistakes), It was totally worth it! Thanks to Rob and everyone that posts on this site, you were all a really big help.
As my screen name divulges, I play WoW and I run this system at 40-60 fps, occasionally dipping to 30 with big AoE pulls in 25-man Naxx!
Oh, and I ordered another Ballistix Ram stick, for giggles as the price dropped a couple $. This will bring me up to 4GB total when I install it.
Here is the creature I created (I did not need to get a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or sound card (went with the onboard audio and it is really good), or modem (I use LAN) (well followed the instructions and just tightened some screws! LOL)!
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 2.53 GHz (the recommended one, which I go to find out after installing it, and checking for compatibility with Vista Ultimate 64-bit, that this chip not only is good, it is tough, and it can be overclocked (if that is your thing) easily and securely)
Gigabyte GA x48 DS4 (the recommended one)
Zalman CNPS9700LED / Artic Silver 5 (it is the newer version of the recommended one, and gets great reviews)
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB DDR3 (recommended one)
3GB Crucial Ballistix 1024MB PC2-8500 DDR2 (I am currently running a temporary XP install. I will be upgrading to Vista Ultimate, as the retail XP Professional is not cost effective in my opinion)
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 7200rpm SATA 300 MB/s
Sony NEC Optiarc 20x IDE DVD RW/CDRW (Black)
Cooler Master 690 Case
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W PSU
I did go a different way with the CPU cooler, case and power supply. My reasoning is that I use a LOT of USB gadgets (Logitech cordless laser mouse, cordless keyboard, Nostromo N52 game pad, and a dorky headset for Ventrillo), and when looking at some of the free online power calculators I was coming out around 480W usage, so I went for a larger PSU, a newer CPU cooler, and case with more fans because I play a LOT and for long periods at a time.
First thoughts:
I read over Rob's site, many times, and with the thought previously in my head to build my own comp (totally to save $), I was sold that this is what I needed to do. I get the same impression about Rob, that I do from the developer and upkeeper of the UI I use for WoW. They do this because they like to, and they go about their developments with a tremendous amount of thought, and they support their work, not only by citing reasons why they make their choices, but they keep up to date on their forums to continue to help us strangers.
So I took Rob's recommended list, and did my own research, checking out multiple sites with reviews (and if you like I can edit in the links I used), and made my decisions on what I was going to put together. When I decided to enlarge my case, PSU and CPU cooler, I was not sure they would all fit, so I ordered the case, PSU, and motherboard first. I knew how much room I would need for the Zalman 9700, so I simply got the case and motherboard (I kept it in the antistatic bag) and measured with a ruler. Everything looked fine with room to spare, so I ordered the rest of it. Oh, I found the case and PSU I wanted as a combo through Newegg for $170.
I mounted the CPU and Zalman without a problem, installed the motherboard into the case without a problem. Same for the graphics card (which is a MONSTER!!!!!!) The graphics card takes up two slots (not so much of a problem on the Gigabyte MoBo as they are spaced out very well) not only inside, but outside as well (you must remove two of the card slot covers on the back of your case, or the GPU will not mount correctly).
I hooked up the power supply, following Rob's instructions and the included user manual. On my first boot I had a problem, my cpu cooler would come on for a second or two and then shut off. I double checked the power connection, reread the manual and it still did not work correctly, nor did the fan on the graphics card. I thought I had a faulty PSU, it happened, as per my reading on both of the pieces I ordered. I contact Newegg to RMA the power supply, but because it was a combo deal, I had to return both the case and power supply, leaving me with a motherboard with a gigantic V-8 sized fan on it and now where to store it!
Edit: 1/09/2009
Sorry this has taken me so long to get back to, but Monkey you are correct, I missed (in the several times I read the PSU manual that I needed to connect the second wire to my MoBo. In the case of the Gigabyte, it was a 6-pin, installed in the upper left corner of the MoBo (as you look down at it during the installation).
Once I corrected this mistake, the first boot went perfectly.
The next step (as I recall) was to hook up the hard drive, dvd/cd drive, and speakers. Following the instructions, this went smoothly as well. My second boot went just as well as the first. One thing to note here is that with the Gigabyte MoBo, it seemed to do a lot of the BIOS setup automatically. Specifically, as soon as I went into the BIOS, my hard drive and DVD drive were automatically recognized. Pretty much all of the menus are very different than the screenies in Rob's install directions, but that is where the MoBo manual comes in, and most everything was easy enough to find.
I did not install a floppy drive, but I did put in a memory card reader, and after reading up on the one I chose, I did not install the memory card reader until after I installed my operating system.
I installed a temporary Windows XP OS (I had a Vista Ultimate on order. I first checked online to make sure all of my connected hardware (printer, keyboard, mouse) had vista ultimate 64bit drivers available before choosing to run Vista Ultimate in 64bit mode) just to go through the process, and once I put the disk in, everything involved in this process went smoothly as well (just as the Rob's directions outlined). One thing to note, is that with this Gigabyte Mobo, it has it's own system recovery, independent of any GoBack or windows restore, but it requires that you assign some "uncategorized" HD space. The Manual recommends 10GB, I intended to make mine 20, but after the XP install and the Vista Ultimate install, I managed to not keep some Hard Drive space as "uncategorized". When Installing the Vista Ultimate, I wiped my hard drive and started from scratch, just so I could keep some "uncategorized" space, and I thought that I had accomplished this, but I messed up somewhere.
I had a problem when it came to all of the testing programs. I had previously downloaded them and burnt them to their own separate CDs, but I could not get any of them to run, so I skipped this part of the installation.
After the Vista was installed, I ran the chipset disk that came with my Motherboard, and installed all those drivers. Then I installed the Video card drivers off of the disk that came with the videocard.I then went online, installed AVG virus software, and made sure my Windows firewall was on. I then downloaded all of the updated drivers for my connected hardware.
Next I went to Windows and downloaded all the updated security and functionality patches, and installed them.
At this point I connected the power connectors to the usb, firewire, esata plugs the are on the CM690 case, and the memory card reader. I did not experience any problems with this process either. Now that I think of it, I have yet to test the memory card reader, ooops!
I also have not done a BIOS flash update, which the Gigabyte MoBo has two options, either one with Windows running, or one at startup, before Windows loads.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Despite this process taking me the better part of a week (with all of my mistakes), It was totally worth it! Thanks to Rob and everyone that posts on this site, you were all a really big help.
As my screen name divulges, I play WoW and I run this system at 40-60 fps, occasionally dipping to 30 with big AoE pulls in 25-man Naxx!
Oh, and I ordered another Ballistix Ram stick, for giggles as the price dropped a couple $. This will bring me up to 4GB total when I install it.