Building a Gaming PC - thoughts?

Your card is a PCI-E card so it will use a PCI=E slot. I have a Asus P5K-C board and it works and fits in no prob, so hopefully you'll be OK.
 
Your card is a PCI-E card so it will use a PCI=E slot. I have a Asus P5K-C board and it works and fits in no prob, so hopefully you'll be OK.

Ok, ok - cool.

I'll admit I'm a bit aprehnesive, this is my first build from all new parts that are actually costing me for a change! lol

What do you reckon to the DVD drive being SATA, should be fine, better than IDE... Do I need to worry about jumper settings off the bat or not?

Here is a complete rundown list of my full order, does it look fine and dandy to you?

My main focus is getting it up and running when it arrvies, I'll worry about overclocking several days later I think. Priority is to get everything installed satisfactory, newest thing to me would be applying the cooler to the CPU with the thermal paste. I shall have a look back and fine some video or something for that. Grab driver updates etc, maybe play some Gears of War before overclocking and see how it handles (before I **** everything up with overclocking lol)... another thing, does overclocking in any way void warranty?

1 LN20936 512MB MSI 8800GTS ShaderOC, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), Mem 1940MHz, GDDR3, GPU 650MHz, 2x Dual Link DVI-I/HDTV
£179.00

1 LN19715 Asus P5K SE, iP35, S 775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/667/800MHz, SATA II, ATX
£53.35

1 LN19302 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-18
£57.64

1 LN17166 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)
£53.99

1 LN20707 Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0 SLACR, 95W, S775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache, OEM
£131.39

1 LN13080 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual/Quad Core Ready - The Favourite One!
£12.99

1 LN19849 550w Corsair VX Series PSU, ATX, PS/2, 5 year Warranty
£47.99

1 LN20181 500 GB Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11, SATA II, 7200 rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.5 ms, NCQ
£64.79

1 LN21508 Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x DVD±R, 10x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM
£17.39

1 LN11644 45cm Akasa SATA/SATAII (3G) Day Glo Blue UV HDD Cable, 1 x R.angle connector with secure latch
£1.95

Net Total £620.48
Carriage £0.00
V.A.T £108.58
TOTAL £729.06
 
Seems good - personally I would have still gone for the modular Corsair, but either way seems like some decent parts.
 
Wayne, are you using the paste that comes with the cooler or arctic silver 5? I would reccomend the latter. A thin line across the middle of a quad core cpu, heatsink on, fixed, job done. The paste spreads out beautifully.
 
Arctic Freezer pro comes with thermal paste pre-applied. I never used any anyway and CPU currently sitting around 54'C although only in windows.
 
Hey guys, I didn't buy the extra thermal paste. From what I've read it comes with it's own tube... if I need it though, then I guess I can buy it.

Skytech, if it comes preapplied that is great! I have this feeling I'd only end up putting too much crap on and it would spread everywhere. If it's preapplied then how does that work exactly?

I assume it has a label or something which is keeps it moist and can then be removed and stuck on?

Not sure what to expect to be honest.

Just to confirm this is the item purchased from Scan, use the product ID if you need to check for a picture.

Hey guys, I didn't buy the extra thermal paste. From what I've read it comes with it's own tube... if I need it though, then I guess I can buy it.

Skytech, if it comes preapplied that is great! I have this feeling I'd only end up putting too much crap on and it would spread everywhere. If it's preapplied then how does that work exactly?

I assume it has a label or something which is what keeps it moist and can then be removed and stuck on?

Skytech, can you please confirm this is the same one then? Use the LN13080 product code to get a picture up on www.scan.co.uk if you need it.

LN13080 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual/Quad Core Ready - The Favourite One!
 
Someone let me know the deal with the above post please?

As I'm patiently waiting for my stuff to arrive I'm looking over some last minute items I may need. Including the thermal paste that robfosters has mentioned, and an audio cable.

Can someone check out my motherboard here http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=656141 , and let me know what cable I need to connect this to my speaker setup. I have stereo, optical and an orange phono connector (spdif i think it's called). If I can make use of my 5.1 for PC gaming then I'll be very happy.
 
Sorry, been at work as as a Sky employee if I were to login at work I'd get into big trouble. Yes, that's the one Wayne, thermal compound preapplied to the bottom of the heatsink. if your speaker setup has optical in then a SPDif/Optical cable can be used. If it has coaxial then you can use a coax cable. Depends on your speakers/amp.
 
Sorry, been at work as as a Sky employee if I were to login at work I'd get into big trouble. Yes, that's the one Wayne, thermal compound preapplied to the bottom of the heatsink. if your speaker setup has optical in then a SPDif/Optical cable can be used. If it has coaxial then you can use a coax cable. Depends on your speakers/amp.

Cheers for that. Applying the compound paste is the thing I was perhaps most concerned about in the first place. :D

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what SPDIF was, so I just did a google and found this image.
dig-audio.jpg

I do indeed have both of those connections on the back of my speakers systems sub, as well as red and white stereo connectors. From what I understand, as I have read something about SPDIF in my motherboards spec on Scan, then I can only assume by coaxial that this is the thing I need.

So all I should need is one SPDIF/coaxial cable going between the output on my motherboard to the input on my 5.1 sub, and nothing else (this will give me 5.1 like optical does with PS3 and Xbox 360)?
 
So all I should need is one SPDIF/coaxial cable going between the output on my motherboard to the input on my 5.1 sub, and nothing else (this will give me 5.1 like optical does with PS3 and Xbox 360)?

Wait and see to find out exactly what your mobo supports (coaxial or optical) and then you can buy the necessary cable to connect to your system. What will you be using to decode the sound?

You should also be aware that some soundcards do not output 5.1 through spdif only stereo - so it's worth checking out.
 
Wait and see to find out exactly what your mobo supports (coaxial or optical) and then you can buy the necessary cable to connect to your system. What will you be using to decode the sound?

You should also be aware that some soundcards do not output 5.1 through spdif only stereo - so it's worth checking out.

I just hunted down a review for my Asus P5K SE motherboard and found this out about the audio side of it:

"The I/O panel features six of the ten USB 2.0 ports while there is a single PS/2 port, coaxial audio port, six audio jacks, a single eSATA port and one LAN port. There is more connectivity featured on the P5K-SE I/O panel when compared to the Abit IP35-E."

I do feel a bit more confused now actually, I assumed I would just be able to use a coaxial cable from the mobo to my 5.1 sub and it should just work, is this not the case then? My PS3 and Xbox 360 work that way over optical.

With the mobo having connections to attach speakers directly, does that then mean the speakers HAVE to be connected to the board? (this is not possible with my existing 5.1 setup, the speakers are the slot and lock-in bare cable type).

Not sure what to do to be honest now, I do have some old Cambridge 4.1 PC speakers I can perhaps setup using the latter method.

I wanted to cut down on clutter though, and just use my existing 5.1 for all my audio needs, with PS3, 360 and then PC. :suicide:

EDIT: Here are my current speakers I'm using and would like to get the PC working on these if possible!

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Peri...5.1+Speakers+-+AC3+/+Dolby+++?productId=10929

They're nothing special, but they do a mighty fine job in my rather small room.
 
I'm pretty sure you would just attach the speakers to your motherboard via Coaxial, set the default sound device to digital out in Vista, and you should be away!

Bear in mind, I have never used a digital out from my PC so am not sure about this but I'm pretty sure, as my board has a digital out that appears in Vista but I have not enabled it, as I have an X-fi card.
 
What input is on the speakers?

If it's coaxial, then a simple co-ax cable will do, if it's optical, then you may have to invest in one of these:- http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/Optical-to-Coaxial-Converter.html

Inputs on the speakers are 1 of each of the following: fibre optic, coaxial (orange one), and stereo (red + white). From what I understand and have looked at as mentioned above in the review of my motherboard, is that my mobo (asus p5k se) has a coaxial output, and according to the spec on Scan's site, this can do 7.1 surround sound.

So if a coaxial cable going from my mobo to sub will give me 5.1 then that would be fantastic, as this is what I kind of expected in the first place - though I wasn't sure if the mobo has fibre optic or coaxial output, I wasn't too bothered so long as I get 5.1 over either of those -- as I would need a fibre optic switcher anyway, as my PS3 and 360 are fighting over that for now.

My EKE 5.1 Surround speaker system does have the decoders built in and supports DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1, as well as the usual stereo and dolby pro logic.

I'm just hoping someone can confirm that this is going to work for me, obviously I'm only expecting proper surround sound whilst playing the proper source, i.e. video game or DVD movie.

:smashin:
 
There is one main thing I just want to confirm now before the parts arrive on Monday.

Back to this thermal compound, I would like a few opinnions on this if possible. It seems that my cooler I have purchased for my Q6600 cpu comes with this stuff pre-applied, so in this case is it worth me buying the artctic silver 5 that sounds rather highly praised? I also assume that if the arctic silver 5 is recommended, then is there an easy method to remove the thermal compound stuff from the cooler, or is it best to leave that as is and apply arctic silver 5 to cpu core?

I would like to move ahead without the arctic silver 5 if I can, as if I order Monday morning then I'm not likely to receive until Tuesday or Wednesday, where as I'll have everything else this Monday. If you guys believe it makes a major difference though, at least for me wanting to overclock later, then I would hang on for the arctic silver before going ahead with the build.

Thoughts?
 
My EKE 5.1 Surround speaker system does have the decoders built in and supports DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1, as well as the usual stereo and dolby pro logic.

If it has the decoders build in then I don't see why that wanted work. Just the single cable to your speaker set should work fine.
 
Cheers for your insight on my speaker troubles Tejstar, sounds good, hopefully it works fine anyway.

Also, the following quote is from the last post of the previous page, I just wanted to re-post it here as some of you may have missed it; as I could do with an answer on this as soon as. :smashin:

There is one main thing I just want to confirm now before the parts arrive on Monday.

Back to this thermal compound, I would like a few opinnions on this if possible. It seems that my cooler I have purchased for my Q6600 cpu comes with this stuff pre-applied, so in this case is it worth me buying the artctic silver 5 that sounds rather highly praised?

I also assume that if the arctic silver 5 is recommended, then is there an easy method to remove the thermal compound stuff from the cooler, or is it best to leave that as is and apply arctic silver 5 to just the cpu core?

I would like to move ahead without the arctic silver 5 if I can, as if I order Monday morning then I'm not likely to receive until Tuesday or Wednesday, where as I'll have everything else this Monday. If you guys believe it makes a major difference though, at least for me wanting to overclock later, then I would hang on for the arctic silver before going ahead with the build.

Thoughts?
 
Bump.

Can a few people give their thoughts on my above quoted question, please?

The components will be arriving anytime tomorrow. I'll have a fiddle and get my PSU, optical drive, hdd and mobo in anyway. If it gets here early that is, then I'll check back here for some comments before getting the CPU and freezer pro 7 cooler installed.

I can wait a few more days if I think this arctic silver stuff will make any kind of difference to what comes pre-applied on the cooler. (check the above quoted post ;))

Anyways, I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone thus far, especially FutureTech and Tejstar who have been very useful! Once everything is fully up and running and I've had a little play then I'll be back to pick some brains about overclocking, that's once I've checked out the links a bit more thoroughly that FutureTech posted earlier on.
 
Hey Wayne, your making a real good fist of extracting info from these guys........:D
 
Hey Wayne, your masking a real good fist of extracting info from these guys........:D

I know :rotfl:

I like to try and cover all the areas which concern me the most, this thermal compound thing being the last one I should need advice on, for now. :)

Can I please have some more thoughts on this matter, regarding my post below about arctic silver 5 and the cooler with pre-applied thermal compound.. Thanks. :)

EDIT: Everything is due to be delivered tomorrow so I would like your thoughts on this matter, before I go jumping in so to speak:

Originally Posted by Waynej
There is one main thing I just want to confirm now before the parts arrive on Monday.

Back to this thermal compound, I would like a few opinnions on this if possible. It seems that my cooler I have purchased for my Q6600 cpu comes with this stuff pre-applied, so in this case is it worth me buying the artctic silver 5 that sounds rather highly praised?

I also assume that if the arctic silver 5 is recommended, then is there an easy method to remove the thermal compound stuff from the cooler, or is it best to leave that as is and apply arctic silver 5 to just the cpu core?

I would like to move ahead without the arctic silver 5 if I can, as if I order Monday morning then I'm not likely to receive until Tuesday or Wednesday, where as I'll have everything else this Monday. If you guys believe it makes a major difference though, at least for me wanting to overclock later, then I would hang on for the arctic silver before going ahead with the build.

Thoughts?
 
Aww come on guys, you're not allowed a day off! :rotfl:

OK, I've got my stuff now. Been flicking through manuals for a few hours and at this moment in time I have the motherboard, DVD and HDD installed in the case - as well as cabling in place and "tidy".

I just need to install the CPU and the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro, I'm just not sure if I need this Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound stuff or not. Does anyone else have this same cooler and can you also confirm this? If this is the case then, does this also mean I do not need to directly apply thermal compound to the CPU, as I presume if it's pre-applied to the Freezer 7 Pro, then that should "connect" so to speak, right?

Can I please have a few opinnions soon? I would like to finish this up, short on space atm ;)
 
Look to see if there is some silver/white paste on the bottom of the cooler - if there is you should be fine. If you get high temperatures you can always wipe the paste and put a clean amount and reseat the HSF.
 
I have the cooler you are planning to use. I used the stuff it's pre-applied with. Works perfectly, and temps are around 35 C at idle with fan speed very low. So, no you don't need the arctic silver, the cooler is amazing the way it comes out of the box! :D

It's very easy to install too, just push in the four pins into the board and it just works! No messing around with paste :)
 
OK, cheers.

I have a bigger problem at the moment now, when I try to power up I get a long beep and then it goes off. Nothing comes up on the screen.

I'm not sure what the problem is to be honest, I thought maybe it might be the CPU. This had a loose black casing on the underside of it which looked like it is supposed to come off, I did take this off before installing it, was I right to do so?

I also noticed that when putting the lever back to lock it in place, that there is a fair amount of resistance, though I assume that is natural.

I had another look through the mobo manual and it mentioned something about an ATX12V connection, and if this is not connected then it wont boot. It looks like in the diagram that it's pointing towards a 4 pin port on the motherboard, I don't see anything suitable cable wise amongst my PSU cables though.

Any ideas or a walkthrough solution would be most helpful. I'd just love to get "anything" up on the screen at the moment!
 
Ok the beep as you can guess indicates that a hardware fault is present. Your motherboard manual should advise you what the long beep is.

The black plastic that sits in the cpu socket does indeen need to be removed as it prevents damage to the pins on the board when not in use.

All modern processors now utilise a 12v supply. These can either be of the 4 pin variety or an 8 pin. Your power supply if its a new one might have 2 four pin supplys together which can be seperated.

These will only fit in the board one way.

The beep is probably the board telling you the cpu does not have the correct voltage / is not detected or not functioning due to the lack of supply.

When installing the cable push firmly. Remove and reseat the memory and video card and then try booting. I am assuming you have correctly connected the motherboard header pins and CPU fan to the CPU fan header.

Leave all the HD and optical drives disconnected and see if your build now posts.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom