First time builder--Noob questions inside

[edmore4]

Hi, thx for looking at this post I appreciate it.
As the subject states this is my first build and have a few questions for you professionals.

So far I have ordered for my build.

Conroe 2 Duo 6300
OCZ GameXstream 700 watt power supply
X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro soundcard
Western Digital Raptor 150 gb
Cooler Master CM Stacker t01-ubk

Im going to buy a Evga 680i motherboard and its going to fit in my case thats on the way.
http://www.systemcooling.com/cm_stacker-01.html

So for my system i'm going to have a Western digitial raptor hard drive and Two DVD/cd drives

So anyway to my first question I need to know where the Sata and IDE cables hook up to the motherboard on this picture.

becasuse when my case arrives in 5-7 days I would like to measure the inside so I can buy some rounded cables from Newegg.com when I purchase my motherboard.

as far as I know I only need
1 sata rounded cable (hard drive)
2 IDE rounded cables (DVD Burners)
any other cables you think I need please list them and where they attach so that I can measure for length before I order them.

My second question is does it matter what brand of memmory I get for the 680i?

My last question is what kind of heatsink / fan should I get for this I have heard alot about the Tuniq tower and Theralright ultra 120 but they seem to be out of stock at Newegg.com, So any help in this area would be appreciated. (after I get the comp running I am going to maybe overclock just depends on how much of a headache this turns out. )

After my case arrives in a few days I'm going to finish my order at Newegg. So far this is what I plan on buying + whatever you all recommend.

Evga 680i motherboard
800 DDR2 memmory (Brand ?? )
7900 GT video card (wanted GTO but they have disappeared)
2--dvd/CD burners (havent decided on a brand)
heatsink / fan (no idea what kind)
1- Sata rounded cable
2- IDE cables
some replacement fans for my case (whatever ones that are replaceable)
120 mm Scythe S-Flex-SFF21f
80mm Evercool transparent

basically just replacing cheap sleave fans for some liquid ones.


I know the whole measuring for rounded cables seems dumb but I live in the middle of nowhere and a compusa or computer store isnt a option so I would like to just make 1 order all at once for my remaining parts and hopefully not have to RMA anything.

Thx again for reading thru my rambling and not laughing to hard at my noobishness. I just wanted to say I have enjoyed reading your posts and hopefully I will learn something out of this experience with your help.

Sincerely,
ED

 

[4Ryan6]

Check out the Build Your Own Guides in my Sig since you're a first time builder you'll get a lot of info from them.

 

[PDH-NicFury]

Connector layout:
On the right side of the board is the white 24pin power connector; below that is the blue IDE connector for your Optical (DVD) drives; below that is the black Floppy connector (facing to the side instead of straight out from the board); to the bottom-right of the RAM slots are 4 SATA connectors, sandwiched between the IDE/Floppy connectors; and the 4pin molex connector between the RAM slots and the IDE connector is the EZ plug, which helps stabilize the PCI-E power when you hook up SLI or Crossfire videocards in the two PCI-E slots.

You only need one IDE cable with two hook ups, one master and one slave... easy to find on Newegg. (not that you could hook up two anyway, since theirs only one connector on the board...)

Any name brand memory is good, I'd recommend DDR2-800... unless you're making bank, then I'd go with DDR2-1066 for better overclocking potential.

I've seen quite a few fellow oc'ers go with the Scythe Infinity, they love it. I have a Vigor Monsoon II TEC HSF, but at $150 its somewhat expensive. Does it work? HECK YEAH. Almost watercooling without the water... Just noticed 'SSF'... if you're using a small form factor case, you may not fit a large HSF, much less a standard ATX mobo. (<--read: you won't.) May want to research your case-to-component compatibility a little more.

Don't bother buying anything from a local dealer if you can help it, really marked up from what you can pay online.

Edit: my fault, misread the sff part, you're using a CM Stacker... good case, got mine and will be putting my AMD rig together soon. Lots of room. If I have the right idea now, that Scythe HSF you have in your list is for SFF's... would be the best for a SFF build, but an Infinity or another larger HSF would be better.

2nd Edit: Wow, two misreads...
Except the first 2 sentences in the first edit, disregard the rest.

 

[edmore4]

Thx 4ryan6 for the links im watching and trying to absorb it all in. The movies are very nicely done.

Thx alot PDH-NicFury for the very detailed post I've made alittle diagram on paper from your post, this will help me alot when my CM Stacker gets here for measuring my rounded cables to buy.

So is that all the rounded cables I need to buy are

1- Sata cable (Hard drive)
1- IDE cable W/ Two hook ups (DVD/CD drives)

Do I need a floppy at all I heard people use them with raid but since I just have 1 hard drive, if possible would like to do without a floppy.

I'll probably order the Scythe Infinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835185027

The Monsoon looks like it has a 5 1/4 drive temp reader and I want all 3 fans in the front of my Stacker.

Im gonna have a total of 7 fans I think in the case will that need any kind of special hook up to do this?

3- 120mm fans (Front of case)
1- 120mm (Back exhaust)
1-120mm on heatsink
1-80mm (Top exhaust)
1-80mm (Side panel)

Anyway thx again for the posts you guys you have helped me alot and I appreciate it.

Sincerely,
ED

 

[testbenchdude]

I have to ask why you think you need rounded SATA cables. First off, you get 6 very nice cables (first I've seen that have end caps on them) with the Motherboard, and secondly, SATA cables are really small in cross-section to begin with. I'd skip on ordering more than you have to.

 

[unsmart]

All new motherboards[ not OEM] come with round cables as far as I know. The only cable I would check for length is the PSU's. As for ram,evga's web page should have a list of tested brands and check there forum for any issues with ram and coolers that may not fit. Googling the mobo will give you alot of tricks and tips for tweaking it out.

 

[PDH-NicFury]

"Testbenchdude" and "unsmart" are giving good advice...

As for the floppy drive, it's like herpes--- it just won't go away. You don't use it everyday, but still comes back to haunt you when you least expect it... Still has it's uses, mainly updating the BIOS, although my ABIT AW9D's Windows flash program works so I don't accidentally mess up my BIOS... amen.

If you plan on putting in a s***load of fans, hope you have a plan, because the Stacker doesn't come predesigned to put all those fans in the front. I have an NZXT Zero for my C2D pc, and with four silent 120's cooling from the side panel and two 120's in the rear for exhaust, with a 120 pulling in from the front for HDD cooling, it works wonders. I would forget about the 80MM on the side and modify it for 2 or 4 silent 120's.

Good luck with the build, hope it kicks butt.

 

[Guest]

If it's not to late, I would recommande the P5n32-E isntead of the eVga, lot of people have alittle concern about eVga producing stable bios with many updates to improve performance.

Also the layout is a bit better IMO, can be had for almost the same price or ~30$ more.

For Ram I recommend Kingston Value Ram, never had a DOA or to RMA a stick and at the computer shop I work we had hundreds of them.

Fan: the tuniq is back in stock, get it while it's hot!

 

[4Ryan6]

All new motherboards[ not OEM] come with round cables as far as I know.

No they do not, Some do, but not all.


8)

 

[4Ryan6]

Do I need a floppy at all I heard people use them with raid but since I just have 1 hard drive, if possible would like to do without a floppy.

I would reccommend getting an internal floppy, its not that expensive a good one costs below $20.00us, it will be used for anything that is designed to be run only through the A:\> drive, such as RAID or SATA drivers through the F6 WinXP installation option, or BIOS flashing IMO is always best done through the floppy option.

And if you don't get one and run into a situation that requires one, further down the road an external USB floppy drive will cost you much more than an internal.

 

[4Ryan6]

So anyway to my first question I need to know where the Sata and IDE cables hook up to the motherboard on this picture.

Anytime I've got a new M/B on the way its like being a kid at Christmas, so I always download the M/B manual in Adobe PDF format to my computer from the M/B manufacturers website so I can study over the M/B on my own before I get it, all your questions will be answered concerning the M/B you're intending to use through that.

 

[Guest]

Yeah I do that to, I dont change mobo to often though, thank god =).

So many stuff integrated on moderns mobo, it's impressive, the manual can get pretty handy, espically if you go raid, and with higher hand card sometimes having 2 raid controller choosing the right one and so on can be a bit tricky!

 

[rwaritsdario]

All new motherboards[ not OEM] come with round cables as far as I know.

No they do not, Some do, but not all.


8)
And get DFI LP UT if you want the to be UV reactive 8)
supp ryan?

 

[4Ryan6]

Hey Dario hows it going?

I finally bit the bullet and set my water cooling up on my gaming machine, it pretty much took all of last Thursday to get it done, relapped the waterblock to a mirror finish and the chipset cooler, thats what really took so long and by the time it was completed I was too tired to play with it too much, hit the sack early. ROFL :lol:

Oh well at least its finally done.

What're you up to? Ry

 

[rwaritsdario]

relapped the waterblock to a mirror finish

What did you use? you must reveal the perfect mirror finish secret to me mwhaha :twisted:

Me? NM, just waiting for RD600 and tracking down this SCAM store in my sig...

 

[4Ryan6]

What did you use? you must reveal the perfect mirror finish secret to me mwhaha

I suddenly have this overwhelming desire to reveal all my secrets! :lol:

Heatsink lapping 101 8)

Most important is to have a perfectly flat lapping surface and I use wet or dry Auto Body sandpaper the grit you start at depends on the surface of the heatsink, its kinda a thing that the more you do it the better you get at knowing where to start grit wise.

I've found its better for me to tape the sandpaper to the flat surface and use a steady circular motion keeping the heatsink perfectly flat at all times.

You start with the finest grit you can get away with starting with, the sandpaper needs to be perfectly flat not bent or folded, lets say worst case you start with 400, then move to 600, then to 800, then to 1200, and finally to 1500grit, now if you leave the buildup residue on the 1500grit paper it will eventually polish itself metal to metal to a mirror finish.

Some people use a polishing compound to get to the mirror finish but I don't want that chemically reacting with my thermal compound so I use my mirror finish technique, takes a little more elbow grease but look what it took to get there from the beginning of the job, whats a little more elbow grease and time, then clean off the surface with 70% isoprophyl rubbing alcohol, apply the thermal compound and you're in business.

Starting Grits
400 = worse case starting point heatsink has manufacturing grooves
600 = starting point with slight medium scratches
800 = starting point very few light scratches

1200 = smooth until shiny
1500 = leave buildup on paper and continue until mirror finish

 

[sruane]

 

[rwaritsdario]

Ill be using the following grits:
400
600
800
1000
1200
1500
2000
and then use the polishing compound as a lubricant in the highest grit. Im not worried about the polishing compound reacting with my thermal paste because it is suspended in an inert water based soluble liquid thats not supposed to reach chemically.
Im getting my stuff from EasyPCkits.com and following the guide in there too.

 

[4Ryan6]

You should have told me you were setting me up for a trick question! My Friend :roll:

I get my stuff from the local Auto Paint supply store.

 

[rwaritsdario]

You should have told me you were setting me up for a trick question! My Friend :roll:

I get my stuff from the local Auto Paint supply store.

Didnt know it would turn into one :lol: :roll:

Its easier for me to pay 5 bucks than going from hardware store to hardware store looking for exactly what I need. I believe the supplies are quite limited here.

Cant wait to take a picture with my reflection on the lapped Tuniq

 

[MacDuff]

Do I need a floppy at all I heard people use them with raid but since I just have 1 hard drive, if possible would like to do without a floppy.

I would reccommend getting an internal floppy, its not that expensive a good one costs below $20.00us, it will be used for anything that is designed to be run only through the A:\> drive, such as RAID or SATA drivers through the F6 WinXP installation option, or BIOS flashing IMO is always best done through the floppy option.

And if you don't get one and run into a situation that requires one, further down the road an external USB floppy drive will cost you much more than an internal.

I wouldn't personally recommend getting a Floppy Disk Drive for doing BIOS flashes (unless there is no alternative). Use either a bootable CD or use the Windows utility. I bet even the Windows utility is more likely to succeed than the floppy because of the chance of a bad sector. I had this happen to me once and it caused the flash to fail half way through and completed ruined my day. Had to load another BIOS version that wouldn't run my CPU - had to get that swapped for another,

I've had some success within Windows using drive sharing/mapping to simulate a floppy.

I haven't bothered with a floppy on my latest machine, and I never used it on my last one. By all means get one, but unless you have a specific reason, I bet you'll never use it.

 

[4Ryan6]

I had some problems once but it wasn't the floppy drive that was the problem it was the cheap floppy disk media I had purchased that turned out to be the problem, I do all my flashing with a floppy but I always make extra BIOS flash disks before hand, with usually the previous BIOS, current BIOS, and the new BIOS, on separate disks just in case something goes wrong.

So its not like my advise is coming from just one bad experience, theres always ways to cover yourself when it comes to BIOS flashing of M/B BIOS or Video Card Flashing, but buying quality name brand Floppy Disks instead of some cheap off brand is usually the best bet when it comes to Floppy Drive performance.

 

[4Ryan6]

Cant wait to take a picture with my reflection on the lapped Tuniq

Well they don't end those instructions with good luck for nothing, I wish for you that the kit contained full instead of quarter sheets of the sandpaper, especially since you'll be lapping that monster of a heatsink, but of course you've done this so many times it'll be childs play for you right. Good Luck! Ry

 

[rwaritsdario]

I'm a lapping virgin actually...

 

[tool_462]

I like that easypckits site. It is cheaper for me to buy from them, being that no store in my area (that I can find) will sell single sheets of sandpaper. All comes in stacks of 4 or 6. That $0.25 polishing compound works wonders, my AC Freezer 7 Pro is literally a perfect mirror finish. I have a pic on my cell phone but no bluetooth adapter to load onto my PC. (I took a reflected pic of some of Da Vinci's mirrored script and it reads beautifully)

Plan on lapping my IHS when I get my water kit. (Ordering on Wednesday when I get paid I think)

Will take some pics of that and try to post them if I can borrow a bluetooth adapter from a friend.