Build Advice Just bought custom components...what next?

Hello,

I just bought a good deal of components for a new build:


COOLER MASTER ATCS 840 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119187


LG Black Blu-ray Burner SATA Model BH08LS20
Item #: N82E16827136164


SeaSonic M12D SS-850 850W 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC
Item #: N82E16817151067


3 x Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Case Fan
Item #: N82E16835608004


Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
Item #: N82E16819115202


Rosewill RTK-002 Anti-Static Wrist Strap
Item #: N82E16899261005


ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131403


CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835181010


Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #: N82E16835100007


CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit
Item #: N82E16820145224


SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X 100269VXL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Item #: N82E16814102841

2 x SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F3 1TB HD

Now I get the fun task of putting it all together, and I want to make sure I am doing it right. So I read the newbie guides here and this is what i got out of it.


1. Make sure I get all my parts that I am suppose to get
1.5 Put on Anti-static wrist band and ground to something metal???
2. Pull out the motherboard tray
3. Install the motherboard onto the motherboard tray
4. Install the Processor (should I lap?), RAM, Graphics Card
5. Apply Arctic Silver Thermal Compound in a thin horizontal line when arrow is on bottom left of processor
6. Install the H50 i7 cooler (lap?), slightly twist 5 degrees counter-clockwise then clockwise to distribute thermal compound and tighten in star pattern
7. Install 2 120mm fans, 1 on each side of radiator, pushing inward to bring in cool air
8. Slide tray back into case
9. Install PSU, HDD, Optical Drive
10. Make all Connections
11. Turn on and make sure it passes POST then insert Win-7 64bit CD and restart
12. Boot CD from Drive
13. Test System (Prime95, SuperPI, CPU-Z, MemTest)
14. Overclock (I will just follow the overclocking i7 thread once I get everything working)
15. Test Again (Prime95, SuperPI, CPU-Z, MemTest)
16. Install Programs/Games
17. Enjoy

So when I finally get my last few parts in, is this a good plan to follow? Am I missing anything?

 

Skip step 14.


You'll just be adding more heat and using more power for ZERO noticeable performance increase for 95% of your daily use.


Nice components choices btw, it's quite refreshing to see a rig so well balanced.

 

I have been reading that the i7 920 is the "overclocking" cpu so I figured I would give it a go. 2.66 to 4.00 is a nice OC.

Thank You for the kind words

It was time for an upgrade and this made a good chanukah gift for myself.

 

GL putting together such a nice selections of components i'm sure it'll be alot of fun .

 

I assume the question marks indicate you are uncertain about static protection.

If that is the case this post may be useful.

 

1.5 ground to radiator or water line or REAL ground from wall outlet. If using wall outlet ground make absoluteley sure you got the right wire and not a live wire..
3.1 check if the copper spacers on the tray line up with the holes of the motherboard. You wouldn't be the first person shorting out his mobo with a wrongly placed spacer :-(.
5 I always put a small blob in the middle of the cpu to spread it.. your method might work also but i doubt you spread it evenly enough. The 5 degrees twist is a good idea .
7 Getting hot air out is as important as cool air in. You might have better results sucking out hot air from the back high in the tower . Use other fan to blow in cool air from outside. This also results in good airflow through the case

Greetz and happy building !
Apex

 

You'll be amazed at how easy it actually is. Essentially, it's just a case of plugging everything together and you probably won't even need to refer to the guide that much.

 

Ill try the wall outlet ground as my house has hidden A/C and heat so there are no radiators and such.

How will I know if I am screwing my motherboard into the right set of holes if more then one variation works?

With the thermal grease I looked at a "How-To" thread and it said to apply it as such since different processors have the cores on different sections.

Finally with the air/heat situation, the case is the ATCS so it has:

2 230mm pushing on top (with dust filter)
1 130mm pulling on the front (with dust filter)
1 120mm pulling on the bottom (with dust filter)
PSU Intake Area on bottom
2 120mm (one on each side of the radiator) pulling to cool the water in the radiator
1 120mm on the outside for the GPU
2 120mm for the HDD

 

If you have a case without a mobo tray should you install the mobo into the case before or after putting the cpu onto the mobo?

David

 

been looking at my motherboard manual tonight and am confussed on a few things. mainly where to connect the case fans and the front panel connections. it all looks a little bit confussing so could anyone explain it for me? pictures or diagrams would help a lot if possible. thanks (specs in sig)

 

See pic:

http://i47.tinypic.com/2pqjt03.jpg

I won't embed it as it's quite large, but you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. Fan headers are marked in red, there's 3 of them (they say SYSFAN next to them), and one 4 pin connector top right of the socket for the CPU fan. If you have more than 3 case fans you'll have to use a molex to 3-pin adapter for the others, but they won't be controlled by the motherboard in that case.

Front panel audio is in the bottom left corner, USB connects to one of the 3 USB headers, and the various power LEDs and switches in the bottom right corner. You might not need to use all of these depending on what connectors your case uses, but they're usually either one or two pins and need to be connected to specific pins - your manual should state which pins they connect to (page 2-15 should have the diagram you need ).

 

Personally i've always found it much easier to install the CPU + heatsink + RAM whilst the motherboard is still in the box, then attach it to the case / mobo tray afterwards

Every case i've ever owned have the mobo holes for the spacers clearly marked, even so it's quite easy to just hold the motherboard over the mounting area and see what holes line up

 

Should I be gathering up drivers on my PC now to put on a USB for installation on my new comp? Or will the components basically do that themselves?

Can someone also do a drawing of the Asus P6TD Deluxe and point out where the fans connect, HDD, PSU, etc etc?

 

You might want to use something like this. It is important that you earth yourself through a resistance of at least 1M ohm.

Your motherboard should come with a cd that contains drivers as will your graphics card. It is probably easiest to use those to initially load drivers from.

 

I would just install drivers straight from the disks that came with the various bits of hardware, but remember to update them as soon as possible. If you're using Windows 7 (or Vista, I assume this applies as well) it all kinda works right out the box, you can just go online and find the various drivers when you're ready. It's not like you'll have no functionality without them initially.

Just attach the wrist strap to a metal part on your chassis.

And I've found that in most cases it's easier to install your PSU first, keep the motherboard out on a desk or similar flat surface (but make sure it's resting on the antistatic wrapper it came in, or an antistatic mat) and install most of the components (CPU, heatsink, RAM) before you mount the mobo inside the case.

Also, be selective where you install your hard drives; I've sometimes run into a problem where a HDD is sharing too much space with a Graphics card and I've then had to find a different drive tray to put it.

Lastly, even if your PSU is modular, make sure to keep good cable management. At the very least, cable ties; keep the bulk of the cables all tied together as much as possible. Google a guide to cable management tips to see what I mean. The last thing you want is to struggle with cluttered cables and bad airflow.

Also, you might want to check the PC POSTs once the mobo, CPU, RAM and GPU are installed (obviously it won't boot into anything without a hard drive installed but it's good to check your base components work). You could take the chance to install EVERYTHING before you first boot up, but if there's a problem then guess what, half of the components could be coming out again really quickly.

Keep in mind, between your motherboard manual and your PSU manual, EVERY connection should be clearly pointed out, as well as where to connect your fans and power switch cables. Just don't worry, read the manual, take your time to make sure it's all right, and you'll be fine, it should be over in about 4 hours.

 

After looking inside my case the fan cables are double ended 4 pin holes (Male and female type). How will they connect to the motherboard or do they go on my PSU?

Inside my case there are the front panel cables. They read USB, Sata, Reset SW, Power SW, HDD LED, HD audio and AC97 on the same cable. Not to sure where there meant to go. I have some images from the online manual. Fan picture Front panel picture

I also have a bracket with 2 USB ports on it should i use this? One last question my motherboard has 6 LED lights on it called APS LEDs what are these called and should all six of them be on?

Thanks for the help start building tomorrow

 

I would like to point out that I have built a fair few PC over the years and I have 'Never' used a static wrist band. I ain't had a component die on me yet, from installing it without one.

But then I don't rub my fingers up and down the connectors on components.

 

Why would you do that? Some drivers after updating leaves old files all over the hdd.

I would only install the network drivers to get you online, then go to Asus and download all the latest drivers including bios for your mobo.
Then go to ATi and download the latest driver for your 4890 which is 9.12
Then go to intel and download the latest chipset drivers (If Asus hasn't done so on there site) and install that.
Then finally go to LG and install the latest Firmware for your Blu Ray drive.

Simon

 

To be honest though, if you're using Windows 7 it usually finds almost all the drivers you need automatically. The only thing I had to update was my graphics card drivers.

 

The point of the post was to provide enough information to allow people to make an informed decision about static protection. If you don't use a static strap and it works for you then fine but it doesn't mean it is the right approach to static protection for everyone.