First build -- got all my parts, what else do I need?

[P-Stew]

This is probably a newbie question but I am excited and nervous about this since it's my first build and I don't want to overlook anything.

I am mainly wondering what programs I should get up and running as soon as I get this thing together and working (knock on wood). I've seen people mention memtest86, speedfan, and a few other diagnostic programs. The name escapes me but I know people have mentioned a stress test they run in the first 48 hours to make sure everything is in working order. Those are the kind programs I am wondering about. If it makes any difference, the build includes E6300, 8800GTS, Scythe Ninja, Barracuda HD, Samsung DVD, Gigabyte S3 mobo, 2GB G. Skill RAM, Corsair PSU, all inside an Antec 900.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[tomdrum]

I would say check over everythning makin g sure its all plugged in correctly. I hate plugging in the motherboard personally. Make sure the thermal paste is on nicely in thin coating and the hsf is on properly.

As for programs its not exteewmely importsnt to me to get those sort of programs straight off, sure get them to check thing$s if you want. Get orthos maybe and speedfan to check the temps of your cpu making sure its ok. I find its all stright forward after its all plugged in and running.

 

[loner47]

There are a myriad of strees testing and diagnostic programsout there which all take time and are very boring to watch. I build gaming rigs and like to test them with a marathon gaming session. This sufficiently stresses all components in the system and I get to have a little fun in the process. :lol:

Unless your testing for stability on an oc'd system.

Build it -load it - and have fun!

 

[pongrules]

Yeah, I second that. Unless you're on OC'ing tweaker, don't worry about anything else except maybe TAT and/or CoreTemp. If it works while you're playing games then you're fine.