PC Building in process 1st question...

[chewie8008]

NEVERMIND, I think I figured it out, i'm supposed to use these brass standoffs. Being impatient not reading all the book. Sorry guys. Real questons to follow later on.

Ok, so I got all my stuff for my new PC and am in the process of putting it all together. Keep in mind this is the first PC i've tried to build. Here is a list of all the hardware I have:

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103537

MOBO:
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $120.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131530

RAM:
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

POWER SUPPLY:
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-480 ATX12V 480W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, TUV, CB, FCC CLASS B, CUL - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103929

CASE:
Antec SUPER LANBOY Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129145

VIDEO CARD:

ASUS EN6600/TD/256M/Silencer Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121199

Harddrives:
Maxtor 200GB and Seagate 80GB(for OS)

Liteon DVD R/RW

Ok, so the problem i'm having... I have the powersupply installed(simple) installing the MOBO. Got I/O panel that came w/ the MOBO in the case. Have it all lined up, but the I/O panel sits about 1/4 an inch from the side of the case and the MOBO is supposed to be screwed flat to the side of the case. So what you end up with is the MOBO on about a 1/4 inch lean from the I/O panel to the side of the case. I really don't think it'll screw in like this safely. Is there some sort of trick to this? Am I supposed to put some sort of spacer under the MOBO or something?

No detailed instructions on how to install the Harddrives either...so i'll probably run into problems there too.

Any help would be appreciated.

[chewie8008]

Actually, what do you guys use for anti-static electricity? I don't have the little strap they mention. I just touch that case before I touch anything...of course that could be bad...i'm not sure.

[redwudz]

Unless you are in a very dry climate, touching the metal part of the case is sufficient. Taking your shoes off and putting your bare feet on the carpet or floor helps also. I'm not kidding. You can build up static charges on your shoes. You can buy a wrist grounding strap from places like Radio Shack if you are really concerned.

Try not to touch any of the pins on the CPU when you install it. Once you have the motherboard secured in the case and the PS cable plugged in, you are very safe. I always install the CPU and cooler before I install the MB in the case. Saves strain on the MB when attaching the cooler clips.

EDIT: Screws for the HDs are usually included with the MB or case parts. They are the short screws with the courser threads. They should thread easily into the HDs. The optical drives use the fine threaded short screws.

Don't overtighten the MB mount screws, snug is sufficient. Make sure the MB is aligned properly with the In/output panel. It has a very slight movement. Check the positioning before tightening the screws. If you don't have mounts for all the screw positions, there are usually small push in plastic mounts included. You may have to cut the tabs off to make them the same height as the brass standoffs.

Just take you time and double check everything before you apply power.

[chewie8008]

Ok, good I am doing the bare feet thing already. Um, I can't figure out the hard drive deal. I have two HDs. A Maxtor Diamond Max 10 200GB SATA150 and a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB.

I found the SATA plugs for the Maxtor but am not sure what kind of plug runs to the Seagate. It says for optimal performance use a 80- conductor Ultra ATA cable. The plugs to it look like 40pin plugs though. Would the MOBO or any of this stuff come w/ an Ultra ATA cable or is that a seperate deal? Do I just use an IDE cable? Will this cause any complications having an SATA and then one that is not?

I figured out where the HDDs go and how to phsycically install them. Is it best to put a space inbetween them and put them directly behind the fan or what?

[bazooka]

More than likely, the Seagate is using a SCSI connection.

[redwudz]

All PATA (IDE) cables are 40 pin, the 80 conductor just has more wires. If you look at the floppy cable, that is the 40 conductor style. The 80 conductor has smaller wires. (And a lot more of them.) Make sure you set the jumper on the PATA drive to Master or Slave, depending on what you are using it for. I'm guessing the PATA is your boot, so make it master. The jumpers are probably already set for that. The PATA cable blue plug is the MB plug. The middle is for Slave and the end for Master.

If you can separate the hard drives a little, that's fine. But do keep them in line with the front case fan for best cooling.

[bazooka]

Ignore my previous post about the SCSI interface. Listen to Redwudz.

[chewie8008]

I can't figure this HDD out. It looks like an 80 conductor IDE but doesn't actually snap into place. It fits...but doesn't snap in. There is nothing to hold it in. It says use an Ultra ATA cable(for optimal performance, which makes me think there is an alternative cable that can used) and the cable I have is, I guess for Ultra DMA 133/100/66. I'm not sure what to use.

How the hell am I supposed to know what all the wires coming from the Trutech power supply are for? There was no documentation that came w/ the PS and only one of them are labeled. I guess I could always go by process of elimination, but that's kinda winging it.

[chewie8008]

Now i'm trying to plug the system panel connector wires up. The book is different from the wires I have. They are saying that the Power/Soft-off button is a yellow 2 pin wire labeled as PwrSW. I have a red and black wire labeled PwrSW. The yellow/white wire I have is just labeled LED.

Then it says there is a 4 pin orange wire labeled Speaker. I do not have this either. Nothing even close. The best I have is a bunch of single pin wires labled 'FP out R', 'FP out L', 'Aud Gnd', 'Ret L', 'Ret R', Mic Bias', 'Mic'.

HELP!

[redwudz]

OK. HD connectors just push on firmly and they aren't loose. Won't fall out. There is a locater tab on the plug that lines up with the corresponding notch on the HD.

The color codes for the power switch, etc., may not match the colors described by the MB manual. Good news is, even if you hook every one of them backwards, no harm is done. The leds for the indicators just won't light. The switch connections will work either way. The speaker is a wide four pin connector. Each connector should have small printing on it. The red wire is usually + and it's orientation should be shown in the MB manual. Just find one that is right and face all the others in the same direction and you can't go wrong.

Those other connectors you describe are for the front panel audio connections. Just put them to the side for now and find the other set.

Be very careful when you come to the point of hooking up the front panel audio connections to the MB. They are often non-standard and you can damage things if you get them wrong. Leave them to the very last or don't use them at all.

EDIT: Power supply: Obviously the big one is the MB power. You may also have a square 4 pin CPU power plug. As far as the rest of them, they only ones generally needed are the 4 pin molex plugs for the drives. Use whichever one makes the neatest path to the drives. The SATA may use that type of connector or a SATA power connector. It's about 1 inch across and 1/8" high. There will be a lot of extra plugs and cable left over. Wait until you get all your wiring organized, then get a hand full of zip ties and tidy everything up.

As long as you have a 80 conductor PATA (IDE) cable, you have the right one.

[chewie8008]

Ok, got the IDE in the HDD. Got power to it too. Still searching for some sort of orange 4pin speaker wire. It should be coming from the casing right? I have checked every wire I think. I'll keep looking. What do you think the yellow/white wire labeled 'LED' does? It's not listed in the manual.

Does it matter if the Serial Port Connector and USB Connectors housing touches the MOBO? I can't keep them off the MOBO.

In the MOBO manual it recommends installing RAM before installing the VC. Is there any benefit to this? I had already installed the VC when I read this. I suppose I could take the VC out and then install the RAM...

LoL, sorry for all the questions, but i'm learning as I go.

[redwudz]

You're getting there. Any four pin flat connector hanging around the case? Usually the little speaker is visible mounted to the inside front of the case. Only two wires actually go the the speaker, may not be a 4 pin connector. Some MBs now come with a tiny speaker in the parts bag. Or it may not have one, though that's rare. Either way, if you have any instructions with your case, it should tell you. You would need those instructions anyway for the front panel audio hookups, if you end up using them.

There are usually two front panel leds. One is the power indicator led and the other is the hard drive led. If you figure out one, the other is the one left over.
If you end up with a third led connector, that's a standby/suspend led. Most cases just flash the power led in standby, but some have a separate led. If so, you can ignore it if you like for now.

Doesn't matter if the drive cables lay against the MB. You can tidy them up a little when you've finished hooking everything up. If they don't block off the airflow in the case excessively, they're OK.

[chewie8008]

Yeah, I have the HDD and Power LED hooked up. So that 3rd must be a standby/suspend led, it has a green, red, and yellow light on the front(assuming the yellow light would be the standby light). I will just ignore it for now.

I can't find a speaker in the front of the case anywhere. However there are two plug ins(not the USBs) pink and green which I would assume is audio. However I don't see it anywhere. I can't find the internal audio plugs. Where would they run from???

What I was asking about touching the MOBO wasn't the cables. I'm talking about like the plug ins for the rear USBs and GFX card housing. The part that holds those into the back of the case.

I have a digital camera, so if any pics would help describe, let me know.

This audio thing is gettin' me.

Both the front and rear fans have two plugs that come from them(4pin), one is male and one is a female connector. I plugged the male plugs from the fans into the PS. Do the female connectors stay unused or what do I plug to them?

I definetly owe ya.

[redwudz]

I usually put in the RAM before I put the MB in the case, but it doesn't matter. Depending on the MB, some cards and cables may be in the way to make the RAM a little harder to install later.

If the pink and green connectors aren't in the same group of wires as the front panel connectors, may be the speaker. (Or do you mean those are the color of the connectors on the MB?) Can you trace them back to wherever they go? The wiring color codes unfortunately aren't universal. If you can't figure it out, just go on. Worry about it later if the MB won't boot.

On the rear USB, VC, do you mean the lower ends of any of the card brackets are against the edge of the MB? If so, that's OK, the edge of the MB is insulated.

The female fan connector is to plug both of the fans together so you only need one PS connector. But if you have enough PS connectors, either way will work. It's supposed to give you an extra male connector.

BTW, I may be getting ahead of myself, but when you finally do power up: KB , monitor and Mouse connected. First check that all the fans are running, and hit 'delete' on the KB to go first into BIOS. Check the hardware monitor for CPU temp, voltages and the rest you will see there. (Assuming a hardware monitor page in BIOS)

Spend a little time becoming familiar with the BIOS settings. You should also see if your drives are showing in BIOS. Let it run for a few minutes, monitoring temps and voltages. Make sure the front case lights are working and the CD drives eject and power leds are indicating. If everything looks good, next the OS install.

[chewie8008]

I gotta run to work soon, so i'll just post some quick pics I took and you can look and see.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/363000-363999/363024_87_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/363000-363999/363024_88_full.jpg


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/363000-363999/363024_90_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/363000-363999/363024_91_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/363000-363999/363024_89_full.jpg

The items circled in red are what is touching the Mobo. I think from what you said though, it's ok.

The pink and green are on the exterior of the case, I am unable to see what is connected to them. All I was saying is, those are usually audio plugins I beleive. I will explain better later tomorrow when I have time. Post anything you can think of that'll be any help.

Thanks man!

[redwudz]

Thanks, the photos help. The pink and green jacks are the mic and front speaker connectors.

According to the case info, the BIOS speaker wires are on the same ribbon cable as the pwr switch, etc.

The PCI cards normally have the lower end against the MB, as circled in the photos (#1).

You should pick up some ~4" zip ties (wire ties) to clean up your cabling when you are done with your wiring. You may have to unplug/replug a few connections to get the best arrangement.

[glockjs]

You should pick up some ~4" zip ties (wire ties) to clean up your cabling when you are done with your wiring. You may have to unplug/replug a few connections to get the best arrangement.

oh you're just bein picky now lol

[chewie8008]

So what is that wire in the first photo I posted. One part of it is labeled EAR and the other labeled MIC. What are they for and where do they go?

In the MOBO guide it mentions internal audio connectors(4pin). I cannot find the wires that go to this either, are they necessary?

Am I supposed to have a sound card. Or can you have sound w/o a soundcard? There are so many different audio connectors, I can't figure out what needs to be plugged up to run my external speakers that I have.

[redwudz]

The 1st. photo appears to the the front panel sound hookups. 'EAR' is a little strange, but if it's with the other front panel cables, must be the one of the sound hookups. As I mentioned, be careful with those, they may not be standard pin arrangements. You can ignore them for now. The MIC is obviously the front panel microphone. Should also be a MIC BIAS and probably a common ground. Then 4 wires for front and rear speakers. Total of ~7 wires. You don't really need any of these front panel audio connections, they are duplicates of the rear case audio connections.

The only internal audio connection you really need, at least with your present setup, is the CD audio. This goes from the DVD ROM or the DVD RW that you want to play CDs with. DVD audio doesn't usually need it. The MB CD socket will be close to your LAN socket, labeled CD and black in color. You need a 4 pin to 4 pin small cable to connect this. It should be included with the DVD drive. If not you can pick one up.

There is a built in sound card, quite good, with a lot of features. A external 2 speaker setup plugs into the green jack on the back of the computer. Should be all you will need.

If you are using the spec'd Antec Lanboy case, it says the speaker plugs are part of the ribbon cable to the front switches and leds. If you don't have the case information sheet, you can DL it from Antec.


For glockjs, in the past I usually just kept cables out of the way of the airflow, but with all these damn clear sided cases, I'm a little more tidy now with the cable arrangements.

EDIT: It occours to me that 'EAR' is probably 'REAR' for the front panel aux rear speaker connections. Maybe a typo.

[chewie8008]

So I have a 4pin connector from the DVDRW I bought that I can hook up, however I have a stock DVDROM i'm putting in from my Compaq, which I do not have a cable for. So will I get no sound from any cds/dvds inserted into that drive?

I have the antec instructions and I saw where it says the speaker(4pin) is on the same ribbon as the pwr etc, however I have confirmed it is not. It is beyond me. I think i'm just going to have no warning noises for a while. I think i'm just gonna go through and double check all connections and just power it on soon. I've run out of ideas w/ that stupid orange cord. Basically all I have left(I think) is to to put the RAM in.

Thanks

[redwudz]

I would just use the 4 pin on the DVD ROM, but if you get a second cable, you can plug the RW into the AUX audio input, near the CD audio input, probably white in color. As mentioned, it's for CD playing anyway.

Sounds like there is no BIOS speaker. No big deal. You could add one later if wanted.

[chewie8008]

What would be a good modem to get? I forgot to order one w/ the computer, kinda need one. I went to newegg, some are like $6. But i'm not sure what to look for in one. Can ya recommend one w/ me. Somewhere under $30 preferably.

Here are a few I saw, but I really don't know anything about them.

$19.99 Creative
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16825117102

$15.50 Diamond
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16825116106

$6.79 Encore
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16825180004

[redwudz]

How about this one,

$23.50 after rebate, US Robotics

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16825104137

USR has been around a long time, good reputation.

[chewie8008]

Works for me.

[chewie8008]

Ok, got two more questions, easy ones I think.

My PS has two wires labeled PCI-E(6 pin), what are these used for?

And in the guide to my GFX card it mentions that some need outside power, like from a PS...it doesn't say whether mine does or not. Anyone know? It's the...

ASUS EN6600/TD/256M/Silencer Geforce 6600 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card

I have assumed it does not, but what to verifty w/ you guys.
Which can be found here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121199

[ROF]

The PCI-E connector are used to power some PCI Express Video Cards. The one you have requires no external power supply, but I have returned this card to newegg due to extreme heat generated by it's fanless design. If you plan on using this video card, I'd recommend returning it, make sure to leave at least 2 slots between this card and your next one. I kept recieving reboots due to overheating while burning it into a new system. I tried another system to be sure it wasn't the hardware in just one system with the same results. I did an exchange with newegg and picked up the x800 radeon PCI-e for a few bucks more. It was money well spent. Just some advice from a commercial builder.

[chewie8008]

That sucks to hear, but glad ya warned me. Nothing is close to it at this point, so maybe it'll work for me. If not, guess i'll have to try another.

So now i'm putting in the DVDRW drive and it has an audio cable that came with it. It seems to be 4pin but one of the pins is empty, so i'm not sure if that would consider it a 3 pin. Anyways, the CD connector on the MOBO is 4 pin. It says that the far left and far right pins are the left and right audio pins and the middle two are ground. The cable I have(came w/ the DVDRW drive has three wires running to the connector, red and white on the far ends and black in the center. I would assume black is ground, but would white be a ground also? If so, they gave me a wrong cable or something.

Also, where the audio cable plugs in(both in the drive and on the MOBO, the insert for it is made for what looks like a cable with a little clip, and this cable I got does not have any sort of clip. It does fit flawlessly, but just seems that MAYBE this is wrong.

I took a picture of the cable and inserts, but unfortunately the camera's battery died when trying to transfer the pic onto my PC. So i'll have to wait till it's charged until I can post the pics. I'm at the very end of the physical process of piecing the computer together and would appreciate any and all help.

Thanks!

[ROF]

Fortunately, the audio cable for drives will only seat properly one way, you can't reverse it without applying extreme pressure. Some of them include clips that allow a secure-locking type connection, although most cables included with drives do not. There are also two audio connection on most rom drives. There is a a 4 pin analog and a 2 pin digital connection. If you plan on watching DVDs on your PC and using your PC audio system, I'd recommend using the digital audio cable. That is if your sound card or onboard sound supports it. The onboard for your MoBo supports both. Pin 1 and 4 are your audio left and right. Colors may vary.

[chewie8008]

The audio cable that came w/ my Liteon DVDRW fits either very easily...

I know you said they fit only one way, but for some reason this fits either way with ease. And I don't know how to tell which way it goes.

Pics of the cable would probably help...i'll get them ASAP.

[ROF]

The cable should have two legs (plastic pieces) that project below the main body of the connectors. These legs always point downward on the connector for your drive. On the MoBo, these legs should point towards the plastic piece next to the connector which allows proper seating of the connection on the motherboard. On the Asus board, the connector fits in with the white cable(right channel) closest to your CPU. The white cable should also be closest to your IDE cable on the drive.