Building PC, words of wisdom?

"Scott" wrote in message
news:8HgWa.33174$o%2.17330@sccrnsc02...
Hi,

I'm putting together my PC this weekend. Any words of wisdom (I'm not
overclocking, not using RAID)? I have the 8KNXP (non-ultra) and 3.0ghz P4
with Kingston 2gb DDR400 (2 512mb pairs). I've been using a 200mhz
Pentium
II for the last 7 years, so this machine oughta fly in comparison.

Big question: are processors still made with those stupid silver teeth
that
bend easily and render the chip useless? That's the one part I'm nervous
about, putting the chip on the motherboard.

More minor question: I've never understood the concepts of slave and
master. What does it really mean? I'm putting in a western digital IDE
SATA hard drive, DVD+RW, and an Asus CD burner. I'm thinking I'll need to
attach ribbon cable to them all and set switches.

Thanks. Have a great weekend!
-- Scott

You don't need Artic Silver. Just use the standard black stuff that's
already on the standard Intel heatsink. The cpu comes with detailed
instructions.

There is a jumper on every IDE device. You set it to either master or slave.
On each IDE cable you can connect either:
- nothing
- one master
- one master and one slave

I don't know anything about SATA.

Handle all parts by the edges so you avoid touching pins and brass contacts.

SATA Drives don't use jumpers at all. That's part of the beauty of SATA.
Each SATA HD attaches via a narrow cable to a seperate connector on the
controller/MB. You don't have to worry about master or slave anymore with
SATA.

"John" wrote in message
u...

"Scott" wrote in message
news:8HgWa.33174$o%2.17330@sccrnsc02...
Hi,

I'm putting together my PC this weekend. Any words of wisdom (I'm not
overclocking, not using RAID)? I have the 8KNXP (non-ultra) and 3.0ghz
P4
with Kingston 2gb DDR400 (2 512mb pairs). I've been using a 200mhz
Pentium
II for the last 7 years, so this machine oughta fly in comparison.

Big question: are processors still made with those stupid silver teeth
that
bend easily and render the chip useless? That's the one part I'm
nervous
about, putting the chip on the motherboard.

More minor question: I've never understood the concepts of slave and
master. What does it really mean? I'm putting in a western digital IDE
SATA hard drive, DVD+RW, and an Asus CD burner. I'm thinking I'll need
to
attach ribbon cable to them all and set switches.

Thanks. Have a great weekend!
-- Scott

You don't need Artic Silver. Just use the standard black stuff that's
already on the standard Intel heatsink. The cpu comes with detailed
instructions.

There is a jumper on every IDE device. You set it to either master or
slave.
On each IDE cable you can connect either:
- nothing
- one master
- one master and one slave

I don't know anything about SATA.

Handle all parts by the edges so you avoid touching pins and brass
contacts.

You will need to prepare a floppy with the SATA driver files on prior to
loading XP - details are in the SATA RAID Function booklet that comes with
the board see page 3......

I upgraded mine machine this week and all was OK.

You will also need to set the Serial ATA function to BASE if you are not
using RAID ..... see page 49 of P4 Titan Users manual

And of course initially set the first boot device to CDROM and the second
device to SCSI once you have set the SCSI/SAT/RAID boot Order to SATA see
page 45 of users manual.


"Timothy Drouillard" wrote in message
...
SATA Drives don't use jumpers at all. That's part of the beauty of SATA.
Each SATA HD attaches via a narrow cable to a seperate connector on the
controller/MB. You don't have to worry about master or slave anymore with
SATA.

"John" wrote in message
u...

"Scott" wrote in message
news:8HgWa.33174$o%2.17330@sccrnsc02...
Hi,

I'm putting together my PC this weekend. Any words of wisdom (I'm not
overclocking, not using RAID)? I have the 8KNXP (non-ultra) and
3.0ghz
P4
with Kingston 2gb DDR400 (2 512mb pairs). I've been using a 200mhz
Pentium
II for the last 7 years, so this machine oughta fly in comparison.

Big question: are processors still made with those stupid silver
teeth
that
bend easily and render the chip useless? That's the one part I'm
nervous
about, putting the chip on the motherboard.

More minor question: I've never understood the concepts of slave and
master. What does it really mean? I'm putting in a western digital
IDE
SATA hard drive, DVD+RW, and an Asus CD burner. I'm thinking I'll
need
to
attach ribbon cable to them all and set switches.

Thanks. Have a great weekend!
-- Scott

You don't need Artic Silver. Just use the standard black stuff that's
already on the standard Intel heatsink. The cpu comes with detailed
instructions.

There is a jumper on every IDE device. You set it to either master or
slave.
On each IDE cable you can connect either:
- nothing
- one master
- one master and one slave

I don't know anything about SATA.

Handle all parts by the edges so you avoid touching pins and brass
contacts.

"Tim" wrote in message ...
I'll say it until it is proven no longer valid:

Take proper anti static precautions. Use an anti static wrist strap. Do
not
wear static generating clothes (EG synthetics, silk), do not work on a
static generating carpet (IE synthetic). Handle devices to a minimum and
only by the edges.

Work on an anti static mat if you can get one. If not, wood is ok, earthed
metal (EG stainless kitchen bench top with no water, kids, or static
generating girlfriends in sight) is good too. Plastic is not OK. Make sure
the surface is flat and large enough.

Do not take anything out of its wrapper until it is ready to install -
that
goes especially for the CPU.

If you keep yourself earthed and regularly touch the case you will not
have
to worry about static.
Don't believe anyone that says this is unnecesary. Would you prefer a
zapped
mobo and years of crashes?

Check you have a compatible AGP card before starting. If in doubt post
here
and someone is bound to tell you if it is OK or not. I am unclear on the
criteria for this but it seems to be AGP 1 and 2 cards are no good - they
will burn the mobo apparently.

Read all instructions before starting......

Mark out which mounting posts you need for the mobo before you do anything
with it. Check their positions and count them, count the mounting holes.
Make sure the line up. Count the screws as you use them.

Install the plate for the connectors at the rear of the case and if there
are any punch outs that need to be removed before the mobo goes in, punch
them out carefully. IE sometimes there are sockets on the mobo that the
plate does not have a hole for... Do not disturb the little springy metal
flanges too much - they are supposed to press against the metal of the
connectors at the edge of the mobo to stop EFI / RFI leakage. (drip drip


If the PSU is not in the case already, install it before the mobo.

Touch the case regularly.

When mounting the heatsink (after the CPU is in its socket) Mount the
heatsink and check the Heatsink is on correctly. Mount it in one go IE do
not think about putting it on to have a go and taking it off then doing it
again. Daft idea. It will wreck the thermal sticky stuff. I say this
before
anything about the CPU, cos putting the CPU in is easy, the heatsink
requires a little leverage - as per instructions.

Handle the CPU by the corners, avoid touching the pins - you are earthed
still right? The CPU *WILL* just drop in if you follow the instructions.
If
it doesn't drop in to the socket with zero effort, you either have not
opened the CPU socket correctly - read the instructions, or are trying to
install the CPU the wrong way around. (I actually heard of a professional
engineer that assembled one of the first P66 systems had forced a CPU - it
promptly exploded, wrong way around).

Do not over tighten the screws for the mobo when installing. Very Mildly
firm - enough so they won't undo themselves.
Follow the instructions for the mobo installation: CPU, heatsink, then
RAM.
Install the mobo in the case. Make sure the RAM is the right way around
before inserting. Handle by the edges only.

Install the PCI and other cards you have after the mobo is in the case.

Install the disc drives - line things up, check cable routing and make
things tidy for the long term. Use lockit (?) zipper thingies as needed.
Don't overtighten or force anything.

If you have only 1 disc drive. Check it is set as Master prior to anything
else. When installing it, insert the end of the cable marked for the
motherboard into (? you fill in the answer...) and the far end into the
drive. The slave always goes to the middle connector.

The IDE plugs are a little harder to go in sometimes. But make sure you
can
see clearly first and confirm they line up. They have a red strip
indicating
Pin 1 - this red stripe side goes to Pin 1 on the disc drive and Pin 1 on
the motherboard. They usually ( but not always... why oh why not always?)
have a notch on one side so that they will only go in one way, but not
always....

Double check the orientation of the floppy cable at both ends. Floppy
drives
often have Pin 1 away from the PSU connector, but sometimes do have it
next
to the PSU connector.

For your CD / DVD. Either one can be Master. Whichever you choose, check
one
is master and one is slave prior to beginning install.
Sometimes (rarely) DVD's expect to be Master - this is a flaw in the DVD
firmware, so perhaps play safe and set the DVD to Master.

Forget what I said about IDE disc drive... You said you have SATA disc
drive. The only issue with the 8knxp is that the sockets on the mobo are
not
clearly marked. There are 4. Check the diagram with the Mobo. Check the
diagram in the manual, and check the writing on the mobo. One of these is
*wrong*. The ones marked SII are the Silion Image ones. If you plug the
SATA
drive into either of the SII ones, you will need to enable the Silicon
Image
SATA controller (this is the On Board SATA Controller) in the bios - make
sure it is *not* set to RAID if you are using only one drive as an
ordinary
drive. Better (probably) to use the other pair - the other pair are the
"On
Chip" (in the Bios) or SB SATA.

Before you start booting up follow the instructions in the manual on
creating a Driver Floppy as mentioned previously. You will need to do the
F6
driver install during XP installation IF your SATA drive is on the Silicon
Image RAID, OR you are using the GigaRaid controller (aka ITE). There are
2
separate drivers, and you can install both at the same time - in two
motions. If you are not using either of these you will not need to. If in
doubt bung them in using F6 anyway - it won't hurt. You can always install
them when XP is running later - some people think you have to install them
using F6 - this is not so, it is just another method you *have* to follow
*if* the Boot device is on either of these controllers - if you don't
install when the IDE (boot) drive is on one of these controllers then you
will get either an IRQL crash or a failure to load file(s) during setup.

Before you do a first power on. Check all connectors, Check there are no
screws under the mobo. Check ...

Check the Heatsink is on correctly.

If you have followed the anti static instructions correctly, have the RAM
in
the right slots (IE same colour for 2 channel op), you are NOT using an
incompatible AGP card, then whatever may go wrong is probably minor, so
switch on and go straight into BIOS setup.


In bios, load defaults first, then disable everything you will not be
using.
Make sure the SII SATA controller is *not* on RAID - if you have an
ordinary
IDE drive config plugged in there as you indicate you might. If it is not
plugged in there, you can just disable it. Ditto for the other RAID
controller... This bios does not tell you if you have a drive connected
first time around - it has no smarts in that it gives no feedback that a
SATA drive is present, this is why you should KNOW which SATA connector it
is in and which of the 2 diagrams + mobo writing is wrong.

Once XP is installed, you might then want to turn on the USB2, firewire,
and
other RAID and install the drivers then... The RAID controllers have to be
enabled to install the drivers (daft idea that). If you are not using the
RAID controllers, you could just leave this until you do need them...

Happy computing ... Oh and yes the 8knxp will be a tad faster than a P
2
200.

HTH
- Tim

That's awesome and first class advice Tim, copy and paste over here.

"Andy" wrote in message
...
You will need to prepare a floppy with the SATA driver files on prior to
loading XP - details are in the SATA RAID Function booklet that comes with
the board see page 3......

I upgraded mine machine this week and all was OK.

You will also need to set the Serial ATA function to BASE if you are not
using RAID ..... see page 49 of P4 Titan Users manual

And of course initially set the first boot device to CDROM and the second
device to SCSI once you have set the SCSI/SAT/RAID boot Order to SATA see
page 45 of users manual.

After that you set the first boot decive to floppy, CD-ROM and SCSI.
And as you say, set the boot order to SATA.