Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Thanks guys. Here is a stupid question. Keep in mind that the last PC I built was in summer of 2001.

Should I mount the CPU and fan prior to installing the MoBo into the tower?

Also what would be your recommendations for a really good CPU cooler? Non-water cooled. I am looking at this one.

Oh ya the board they sent me is a used one. :( The manual had writing in it and the board itself was dusty. I am considering sending it back.

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Mount the fan and CPU after the board is supported in the case! Newer boards have circuitry running on multiple levels within the board itself. Kind of like multiple boards laminated together. You could flex the board and cause damage to the internal circuits. Boards also have components mounted top and bottom so by laying the board on a surface you could damage components from the pressure applied on the board for installation. The mounting points in the case are positioned for maximum support on the board.

Quote:

ESD is still overrated. ESD products are a waste of your money.

Fryon, while YOU feel ESD is "OVERATED" that's fine when working on YOUR own stuff. :hurt: I've worked for three electronics companies and have been "Trained" in ESD proceedures. Most damage done is not even visible to the eye. Now, if these companies thought it a good idea to train people in ESD, then I would think (my opinion) that it's not a waste of time and money, as some of the processes can be quite expensive. This is so they can get their product to you, so you can fry it! :doh:

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

They just did that to have a paper trail for any lawsuits from shareholders. Far cheaper to buy magic straps than shell out for lawsuits. ;)

Certainly hoping you read the rest of the post that you didn't quote, cause I did agree a quick touch to metal is good to discharge any buildup when you first approach a box... It's just silly to suggest that you must keep yourself constantly grounded throughout the process, ala ESD straps and gloves and other malarky. Though if your job is to assemble boxes all day long, it's probably easier to use gloves just because you will sometimes forget to touch a grounding point. Forgetfulness is probably the real reason those companies trained you, more than anything special about ESD products.

Oh? All I ever see on the bottom of motherboards are embedded wires and bits of solder, neither of which are particularly damageable. Certainly, mounting the CPU externally is ok if you place it on a soft surface, like a sofa or a carpeted floor (which cannot get any static discharge unless you spend time dragging it along!). Towel underneath it on the table, perhaps.

I'd actually be more worried mounting a tricky CPU with the motherboard IN the case, because those mounting points give really poor support for pressing down on the board. The actual location of the mounting screws is pretty arbitrary, and doesn't really give optimal support to every part of every motherboard. Sometimes a CPU might be mounted in the center of 4 supports, sometimes inbetween two of them. A nice flat (and soft!) surface supporting the entire motherboard gives far, far less opportunity to flex it. Luckily CPU/fan mounting brackets have gotten a lot less ****ty in recent years, but it has traditionally been a rather worrisome task.

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

The CPU better just drop in or you have problems. The cooling fan will be the biggest problem. The mounting points have holes and are calculated to be away from any circuitry, in or on the board. :eek: As far as working on towels, what ever floats your boat...

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

So here's what I now know. 1. Power was fluxuating from 107v to 120v. - Under powered memory. Needed 800mhz min, Kingston HyperX was only 667. To much memory being used. Had 4 gigs but XP only recognizes 2 to 3 gigs. So when I tried to run FarCry 2 using SLI, it killed the system.

MoBo was a POS. ASUS forum for the P5N32-E SLI is filled with issues, many just like mine.

So I have ordered Corsair Dominator 1066mhz memory (2x 1Gig), a Cyberpower CP1285ACRLCD back up PS, and I am looking at a coolmaster UCP 700w PS.

A crap load of extra money but I guess needed. If this PC fails now I don't know what I am going to do.

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

You're the one that didn't like hard surfaces!

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Fyron, AT posted looking for advice. All you've posted is crap responses in this thread. If you don't believe me, go back and READ all your postings. You haven't contributed a thing even resembling advice.

You are a LEGEND in your own mind!!!

Please don't post any responses to any of my posts for help. If you have something you wish to add then just do it and keep your postings about the topic. Your negative outlook is what's chased a lot of people from this site. I really don't care what you have to say at this point. You've done nothing but criticize and have posted nothing toward any help or advice, with the exception of criticizing my advice to help AT.

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Thank you both. Xaiti I wanted to thank you about reminded me of ESD. The manual states that I have to use ESD techniques or I risk voiding the board warranty. I have an old ESD strap from when I worked with semi-conductors so I will be using that for good measure.

I think I will go ahead and install the CPU and fan while the Mobo is out of the PC. I have the foam packaging that the mobo came in and a static bag that the mobo can rest upon. This will be both firm and static free.

When I boot up using the old HD I will have to boot into the bios and make sure that the CD Rom is the primary boot and that the date and time are correct. Then I boot to the XP disk that came with my PC and follow the direction to do a repair. Its going to be a rough ride and I hope that I can get the PC to boot up and run long enough for me to do a data dump to a new 1 terrabyte HD. Then I will do a reformat and fresh install of XP.

When installing a second SATA II drive do I just plug it in to the momo in one of the six available slots?

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Sorry you don't like people having contrary opinions on good system work practices, Xrati.

AT:
Yes, just plugging it into another slot will get it detected by the BIOS automatically. if you need the drives mounted in the other order, you should be able to simply swap the ports the SATA cables are plugged in to.

You should also consider creating two partitions on the drive; one 50GB for XP and big programs that cannot be effectively installed outside of C (eg: Adobe products, Visual Studio, sometimes MS Office), and one to hold your documents, photos, videos, and other installed games and programs. You can use TweakUI (from microsoft.com) to relocate "My Documents" type folders to other places, such as D:\Documents. This makes it easier to reinstall windows in the future for the next inevitable meltdown.

Re: OT - Need Some PC Advice
 

Thank you Fyron I will do that. That is good to know. I was wondering if I just went out and bought a new Sata II HD and did a fresh install from the get go and then after that was up and running and updated and such, then install the old drive as a slave would be a better way to go?