Couple of "Noob" questions

[DennisP]

Putting together a new system. Last system I built used IDE Drives and AGP Video cards.

Using SATA drives including a Sony SATA DVD/CD optical. Installing XP Home instead of using my old Win2K pro.

I've been researching putting a computer together using SATA drives and formating the drives, etc. as this is new to me (no jumpers to set and thin cables...woot!) I'm confused. Read on one site about using a utility to create drivers for the SATA Hard Drives and I was lost at that point. Talked about VIA and NVidia chipsets

I'm building using a Gigabyte EP35-DS3L board. Intel chipset. Do I have to create some kind of disk utility that will get these Seagate OEM HD's to run?

I was under the impression that once I set the board BIOS to boot from the DVD drive, I insert the XP Home OS and the OS will prompt and allow me to format my HD's and install the OS. Then add any additional drivers that Window XP can't supply or may be outdated.

Is there something I'm missing here or have things changed that much?

Also curious about my Sony SATA DVD/CD player burner......there isn't any audio cable connections like the old IDE drives had. How does the audio get to the onboard sound? There used to be a separate audio cable that connected to the sound card.

Sorry for the dumb questions. It's been a long time since I last built and many things have changed.

Thanks for any help

Here's a list of my hardware just in case:

Corsair 650W PSU
Intel E8400 retail CPU
Gigabyte EP35-DS3L
2 Seagate 500BG 7200 16MB cache OEM HD's
1 Sony DRU-V200S SATA DVD+- 20X
2 GB Kingston PC6400 800 DDR2
1.44 Floppy
GeForce 8500GT 512 (Interim card until Geforce GTX280 price drops more)
OS Windows XP Home w/ SP2 OEM
Coolermaster Centurion CAC T05

 

[Proximon]

SATA drives are not so complicated. They will work just fine with whatever motherboard drivers you get.

XP will format for you when you install. No you will not need any utility, or should not.

Direct sound connections haven't been needed for some time. They were needed for headphone jacks that were mounted in the CD drives at one time.

Just ignore the GTX 280.

Get something from the TH list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,1987.html

Try to get a case that has a front air intake fan or two. That particular Cooler Master does not.

 

[DennisP]

Thanks so much for the information. I try and read what I can and get my own answers before posting questions. The SATA deal had me stumped. I couldn't imagine that things got MORE complicated as technology improved.

BTW...the Coolermaster case has a completely vented front grill and comes with one 80mm that draws air across the Hard drives and a 120mm fan in the rear that vents the case. I've added an additional 80 mm fan on the side of the case to vent air also.

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=2714

I've used this case in the past when I had heat problems with an Enlight case....moved all my old parts into the newer case.....this Centurion T05 does keep everything very cool.

Again....thanks for answering.

Cheers

 

[gearoi]

Plug in your SATA on that mobo and it'll work straight away - it'll come with the connectors too.

It's really just the same as an old HDD. Don't worry about it - they work!

I got a 500GB Samsung spinpoint with the same Mobo you are getting there!

Good luck!
Gearoi

 

[Proximon]

Thanks so much for the information. I try and read what I can and get my own answers before posting questions. The SATA deal had me stumped. I couldn't imagine that things got MORE complicated as technology improved.

BTW...the Coolermaster case has a completely vented front grill and comes with one 80mm that draws air across the Hard drives and a 120mm fan in the rear that vents the case. I've added an additional 80 mm fan on the side of the case to vent air also.

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?category_id=19&product_id=2714

I've used this case in the past when I had heat problems with an Enlight case....moved all my old parts into the newer case.....this Centurion T05 does keep everything very cool.

Again....thanks for answering.

Cheers

NP... sometimes you can read too much

There are many different kinds of Centurion cases. When I do a search for CAC T05 on newegg, I get picures that don't show the front grill well, but I snooped around and see what you have.