little advice please

[g8rh8r001]

ok guys here goes. I am about to build my first box and need a little advice. I have an AMD XP 1800, Iwill XP-333-R, 256mg of ocz pc3000, 40gig maxtor ata133, SB live x-gamer, and a new case with 400 watt PSU.

first question--Do I need to use the silver stuff to mount my HSF to the CPU, or the pad that came on the HSF?

Second question--Will the Iwill board already be set to ata133 and will the new OS I ordered automatically format and partition my HD upon successful installation?

think that is it but I will update if need be
TIA,
G8

 

[MeTaLrOcKeR]

Well.....first off did you buy the Retail Athlon XP 1800+ ??? Because you didn't mention what Heatsink & Fan your using.......You can use the stock Pad thats on the HSF, it does what it needs to do.......but if you want optimum cooling with any HSF, Arctic Silver 2/3 is the best way to go.......remember though, u must get all of the Thermal Pad off the HSF Before apply Arctic Silver........

And about the automatic Partitioning and formatting........what Operating System are you going to be using ????

Windows 2000 and Windows XP both have features is the install process near the beggining to select a drive and partition etc. and it will ask you if you want it formatted and all that, its a very simple process.......and as far as the ATA133 automatically working.......it should...assuming its not a seperate IDE Controlelr chip like a Promise or HighPoint IDE Controller on the Motherboard........and even if it doesnt work at ata133 right off the bat, the Motherboard should have come with an Installation CD and the drivers will be on there.

Any more questions/concerns just post back.

-MeTaL RoCkEr

My <font color=red>Z28</font color=red> can take your <font color=blue>P4</font color=blue> off the line!

 

[girish]

Most of teh pads that come with the CPU are too thick, its better to remove them and put a fine layer of heat conducting arctic silver on the die surface.

The ALi Magik1 doesnt yet have the ATA/133 IDE controller, I believe the Iwill XP333 board in its latest rev supports just the ATA/100.

You have an option to partition the drive yourself or make the OS installer do it for you. I recommend you do all the aprtitioning stuff and let the OS just use whatever you provide it with. For a 40 GB Hard disk, i suggest you have a 5 GB of drive C and 2~3 of more partitions with sizes of your choice, that would fit your needs. I suggest you alocate them for specific stuff and give them the followinig names:
<b>C</b>ontrol: The system control program, the OS resides here.
<b>D</b>ata/<b>D</b>evelopment: All your working stuff
<b>E</b>ntertain: All the games, MP3s etc
<b>F</b>ast Install: All the installables like a copy of the OS installer directory, drivers, utilities you might find handy on the disk instead of looking for and swapping CDs for each of them!

girish

<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>

 

[Matisaro]

Most of teh pads that come with the CPU are too thick, its better to remove them and put a fine layer of heat conducting arctic silver on the die surface.

Only if you plan on overclocking, the thermal pads work fine if you run in at stock speed. If you dont want to overclock, just use the hsf and the tim which came with it.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[g8rh8r001]

ok that seems to help me out quite a bit that is invaluable info for a first timer... thanks for all help oh yeah and the cpu is in the retail box came with an amd HSF and the OS is windows ME. Benn using ME for a year or so now with really no probs and decided to stick with it.
thanks,
G8

 

[girish]

Windows ME??? I would suggest you switch to Windows 98SE, by far the best desktop Windows version (with a few upgrade patches) cant do low level work in ME.

<font color=red>Nothing is fool-proof. Fools are Ingenious!</font color=red>