First time builder with a few questions

[Weichelt]

1. After I get it all assembled and wired up...I turn it on..whats the first thing I should see on my monitor?

2. Can I make a copy of a dvd with a dvd burner or do I need 2 seperate drives?

 

[cutthroat]

1. A sceen with the name of your mobo manufacturer. Here press DEL to get into your BIOS and set it up before installing the OS.

2. Yes, make an image of the DVD, then burn the image to another DVD.

 

[Weichelt]

how do I then set up the Bios?

 

[cutthroat]

I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't know the basics of how to set up your BIOS you should not be building a PC.

 

[Weichelt]

Well, it was a little rude and I am still building a pc....and still don't know how to set up the bios. If you are not going to give me some pointers, can you send me in the right direction plz.

 

[Weichelt]

Well after several google serarches and 30 min of reading, I think I have the jist of it. Past the basic setup (which should be laid out in the mobo manual) any advice?

The reason I'm asking is because I've ordered all the parts and am expecting them to come in tommorow. I've done a great deal of homework on the hardware, but not enough on the setup (and obviously the bios).

 

[JMecc]

A lot of the time you don't need to change anything in the BIOS for the machine to work. The main thing is the boot order - you need to have CDROM set as 1st and then HD #2 so that you can boot from the windows (or linux) disk and install it to your drive. You may want to manually change the memory timings and its speed & voltage to match the manufacturer specs. Much of the rest have fine default values that only need to be changed for overclocking.

Jo

 

[Weichelt]

If I'm installing a dvd burner is it still going to be under the CDROM portion (when talking about boot order)?

 

[alcattle]

Yes, any optical drive is listed under CD.

 

[jitpublisher]

Yes, you need to go into the BIOS the very first time the PC starts.
You will have to set some basic things like the month, day, hour, minutes.
It will pretty much detect everything else, unless you have some very old or oddball hardware. Some things like the USB controller by default will be disabled, you will probably want to enable that.
Just read the motherboard manual, especially the pages about the BIOS setup screens. Most things you can just leave at "auto" settings and everything will work fine. You also want to make sure the boot order is set correctly, CD first, then harddrive, or you won't be able to boot with the CD to install Windows. Any problems or questions, come back here and ask, I'll try to help.

 

[Weichelt]

Awesome, thanks so much. Hopefully all the parts come in today!

Heres the main parts too btw:

MSI P6N SLI PLATINUM; 8800GTS; MUSHKIN 650W; INTEL C2D E6400 2.13G; 2GB MUSHKIN DII800; SEAGATE 320G HD; SAMSUNG S183L DVD/BURN

 

[jitpublisher]

Take your time, read all directions, and should be a walk in the park with the hardware you have listed.

 

[Weichelt]

What does OEM mean when its listed after a product. My HD and dvd drives are both OEM.

I got the packages today and teh dvd and hd don't have a box with them they are just wrapped in bubble wrap...and NO wires either. I'm not sure what wires they're going to need.

 

[JMecc]

OEM drives are just as you described - no cables, no fancy packaging, and often no extra software. OEM hardware is just the basics - OEM is Original Equipment Manufacturer, so it is intended for a system builder.

Jo

 

[alcattle]

All the cables you need for the drives come with the motherboard. You should also have enough screws with the case.